Don't Forget Me
by Angelite Phoenix
Summary: Everything takes a turn into hell when Akito takes Tohru and co. on a suspicious and dangerous trip to Europe. What's his ulterior motive? Definition: love, hate, complications. Sequel to Destiny Unmasked Apologies, currently on Hiatus.
1. Chapter 1: Dimensions

A/N: HI this is my first romance story so please be nice! It's the sequel to destiny unmasked but there are quite a lotta differences so don't worry about reading the first one to understand the second one too much although I would recommend that it would be easier. By the way this story does not include Machi Kuragi often, cos I don't like her character much plus it will be weird if she appears in my story. So apologies to people who like Machi. Just something you should know, maybe my characters will get a little OOC but that's later so yea. Hopefully this would be better than the first but I guess that's where you play your part in reviews. XD So I hope you enjoy this story and keep in mind that all comments are welcome and well appreciated! One more thing, the first chapter might be a little boring because I'm just doing some introducing and blah but I promise you things will get good starting from the second chapter.

Disclaimer: Even though I dream about this everyday, I DO NOT own fruits basket….so sad…: (

**Chapter 1: Dimensions**

**Introduction**

Three months had passed since Karina discovered a connection with Kyo Sohma, not only being able to hug him without him transforming but finding out about her family past that led to Kyo being her half-brother which was quite dramatic. But it was good news to know that she had one member of her family that was actually blood-related since her other guardians the Yoshida family only took her in 3 years ago for a few months while her foster mother Nagisa died recently after an accident with fire at a hospital. Sure, her life was so mysterious and strange with a few bumps along the way but she knew that with her new friends, the Sohma's and Tohru Honda, she would be alright no matter what but who knows whether her confidence is going to gain what she needs to live happily?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Good morning my little sunflower, so what's for breakfast?" Shigure yawned as he came down the stairs to greet Tohru.

"Oh good morning Shigure, well I've made some sushi, would you like to have that for breakfast or… would you like to have…"

"Sushi will be just fine." Shigure skipped to the kitchen grabbing the plate of sushi and sitting at the table eating with Yuki and Kyo staring at him.

"What? You two are giving me that glare again. What have I done this time?" Shigure paused.

"Don't call her your little sunflower, its embarrassing!" Kyo left the table whacking Shigure on the head along the way.

"Miss Honda, are you ready for school?" Yuki asked grabbing his bag and ignoring Shigure completely.

"Sure. Kyo are you coming?"

"Yea yea, be right there." Kyo walked down the stairs.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh gosh, not school again…oh well at least there are only a few days left." Karina woke up slamming her alarm clock so that it would stop ringing. After 30 minutes of getting ready, Karina was on her way to school eating her breakfast along the way since she woke up late.

'Hmm….maybe I should stop at the gift shop for a while, after all I want to give Tohru, Yuki and Kyo a small gift for fun.' Kaori thought as she changed direction.

She got a cup of coffee along the way as a wake-up solution since she was more of a sleeper-inner than an early bird. She chose a cat and rat key chain for Kyo and Yuki and a cute photo frame for Tohru since it reminded Karina of her cheerfulness.

"That will be 35 yen in total please." The check out assistant said as Kaori paid the money.

"Thank you for coming, have a nice day."

'I really hope they like this gift.' Karina could just imagine their reaction.

"Oh shoot!" Karina exclaimed as her bags fell to the ground along with hot coffee that spilled all over her uniform. She snapped out of her daydream and looked up and felt a rush of excitement. A some-what familiar face that she recognised, someone she had seen just a few months ago.

"Darn it…So Sorry." The voice said as the boy looked up as well and met Karina's gaze.

"Karina!"

"Kenji!" They said in unison.

"What are you doing here?" Karina asked as Kenji lived 45 minutes away on train in Karina's old home town. (A/N: By the way for people who haven't read the first one, Kenji is Karina's old crush plus his family take care of her as her guardian but they have no actual family relationship as in no bloodline, just really close friends.)

"I uhh…well it's a long story but I'm so sorry, I just spilt coffee all over you're…wow nice uniform." Kenji complimented in the middle of his apology which made Karina laugh.

"Nah, it's alright, I'll just get it cleaned up sometime later but anyway, where are you off to?" Karina shrugged it off.

"Okay, you're gonna laugh at this, I just came from the florist's shop and I bought these for you, I just didn't know I'd be seeing you so soon, I was going to buy a card here." Kenji handed her a bunch of assorted and colourful flowers.

"Oh, why thanks…So how'd you know that I live here?" Karina questioned.

"Umm…you see you never told me where you lived so I had to make a few phone-calls and I checked the residential/phone book, I guess it took me a while just to track you down. I decided that I should visit you since the last time you came was about 3 and a half months ago and keep in mind that you didn't say goodbye." Kenji explained.

"Sorry about that, I just remembered something that I had to do, oh my god, I'm late!" She suddenly realised as she looked at her watch.

"Late for…?"

"School duh, sorry love to chat but I gotta go, thanks for the flowers, here's my address, come around sometime. BYE!" She called out after throwing him a small card with her address and phone number on it.

"Uhh…bye." Kenji waved, this was the second time she had to go somewhere, and maybe it was just sheer bad luck or bad timing, just when he was going to tell her something, she had to go.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Kyo, Yuki, Tohru!" Karina called out to them as she gave them the wrapped gifts.

"Karina, hi, what's this?" Yuki asked.

"It's a gift, for all of you, hope you like it, I uhh have to go to the bathroom bye for now." Karina ran off just remembering her awful looking brown-coffee stained uniform. She used hot water to soak her uniform then she wiped it with a paper towel but it just left her uniform looking like she just fell into a puddle of water.

"Oh man, I'm gonna look like a complete idiot for the rest of the day." Karina groaned as Tohru came in.

"Thank you for the gift Karina, what's wrong?" Tohru changed the subject as she saw Karina's frustrated face.

"Coffee, spilled, stained, I can't get it off." Karina simplified her words.

"Here let me help." Tohru offered as she led Karina to a room with a single washing machine.

"I had to use this once, but I'm just glad that this school has something like a washing machine." Tohru laughed as she tossed Karina's blazer into the machine.

"Thanks Tohru."

"No Problem."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After school, Karina got a call from Kenji asking her to meet him at dinner at this fancy restaurant. She quickly agreed craving for nice meal after having simple food everyday at home by herself. She ran home and got dressed then hung her spring clean uniform (thanks to Tohru), grabbed her purse and her cell-phone and called a cab to the city.

"Table for two…uhh I think." Karina requested as the waiter seated her at the seat next to the window. The restaurant sure was fancy, very purplish indeed with nice carpet and tasty looking food, she'd hate to see the bill but with Kenji's wallet around, she had nothing to worry about. Not that she always relied on Kenji's money of course since she liked being independent but every time Kenji insisted on paying.

'The positives of being rich I guess.' Karina sighed.

After waiting half and hour, Karina started to get bored.

'Where in the world is he? He asked me to come at 6:30pm and right now it's nearly 7:10pm.' Karina took out her cell-phone and dialled the reply number.

"Hello this is Kenji Yoshida, I'm currently unavailable, please leave a message after the beep." The voice machine told Karina.

"Kenji, I'm here at the restaurant, waiting, waiting, waiting, so how long do I have to wait and where are you?" Karina put on a bored voice as she shut her phone and ordered a drink since she was getting really thirsty from the evening heat.

An hour passed and Karina was getting fed up from waiting after calling Kenji twice again with the answer machine leaving her irritated. It was now close to 8:15pm and Karina had already eaten her meal by herself, again, as always. She paid the bill at the counter then left the restaurant figuring out what to do next. Then her cell started to vibrate as soon as she stepped out of the restaurant.

"Hello?"

"Karina, I really apologise." Kenji's voice made Karina cringe.

"Where have you been, I've been waiting since 6:30pm now its 8:15pm, I've eaten and I've left the restaurant now what's going on?"

"Karina, it's hard to explain, perhaps we can talk tomorrow somewhere."

"Kenji…you just left me there…oh just never mind…fine I'll see you tomorrow, please don't be late." Karina pleaded.

"1pm tomorrow, lunch at a café, I'll be there, starbucks."

"Okay." Karina closed her phone and took a cab home again.

'Tonight was complete waste, I had no fun, sitting there and eating by myself. To tell the truth, I feel like such a loner sometimes, I mean normally people would admire independency but right now, I'm sick of it, I want to rely on someone, I want to have fun with someone but most of all I want to be with someone' Karina was lost in her thoughts as she drifted off to sleep.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: So yea, I did tell ya that my first chapter was going to be a little boring but please tell me what you think of it so far. Thanks for reading anyway!


	2. Chapter 2: Flames

A/N: Hey, as I've promised, this will be a better chapter especially during the second half LOL. Oh by the way do any of you know where Tohru and the Sohma's actually live? Like Tokyo for example? Cos I really don't know, but for this story I'm just going to pretend that Tokyo is where they live and Nagoya is where Kenji lives. So ENJOY!

**Chapter 2: Flames**

"Buzz..Buzz..Buzz" Kyo Sohma's alarm clock rang.

"Damn that alarm clock, it's the weekend for goodness sake." Kyo whacked his alarm clock so it stopped ringing. 'Oh well, suppose I better go down for breakfast now anyway.' Kyo thought as he got changed and went down the stairs to see a smiling Tohru.

"Good morning Kyo." She said brightly.

"You're up early…as always." He murmured.

"Yes well you guys need to eat don't you?" Tohru handed him a plate of food.

"Thanks." Kyo took a seat and switched the T.V on while eating.

"Morning Miss Honda." Yuki's usual gloomy wake-up face made Kyo slightly intimidated.

"Hello Yuki." She gave him the same plate of food as Yuki sat on the opposite end of Kyo.

"So today's the weekend, what do you have in mind that we could do?" Yuki asked while switching off the T.V making Kyo irritated.

"DAMN RAT!" Kyo shouted but stopped as soon as Tohru started to talk.

"Well I was actually thinking that we could go to the amusement park with Karina if that's okay." Tohru suggested.

"Sure it is." Yuki nodded.

"Serious? We're going to the amusement park?" Kyo said sarcastically.

"Yes…why don't you want to go?" Tohru queried.

"Nah, it's okay, I'll go as long as I'm not sitting next to that rat on the rides." Kyo said under his breath as Yuki ignored him.

"So shall I call Karina now?" Tohru asked.

"Go ahead, I'm sure she'd love to come." Yuki replied.

* * *

"Ring…Ring…Ring.." The telephone woke Karina up.

"Oh...Great…there goes my sleep." Karina picked up the phone.

"Hello Karina, oh sorry did I wake you up?" Tohru heard Karina's half awake voice.

"Yea but who cares, so what's up?" Karina shrugged it off.

"I was thinking that the four of us could go to the amusement park…Me, Yuki, Kyo and you."

"Okay. That sounds good. What time?"

"Around 3:00pm?"

"Ok, see you then, bye." Karina hung up.

'So that would give me enough time to go to lunch at starbucks café with Kenji then perhaps meet up with Tohru and the others at the amusement park.'

* * *

Karina caught a bus to starbucks and seated herself next to the window hoping that Kenji would not be late this time.

"Karina!" Kenji's friendly face popped out of nowhere as she sighed with relief.

"Hey Kenji."

They ordered their lunch and drinks and chatted but Karina was still curious about why he was late yesterday, he sounded really troubled not to mention his tone as if he was hiding a secret.

"So what was with last night?" Karina got straight to the point as Kenji's face fell.

"Umm…yea…well you see it's really….umm…." Kenji stuttered.

"Come on, you can tell me." Karina gave him a trusting look.

"I know…it's just complicated…oh fine…but I don't want to ruin your afternoon. Karina…dad died last night." Kenji grasped her hands as her face turned white.

"What?" Was all she could say.

"I only left Nagoya two days ago to visit you and just yesterday he got a heart attack and a work colleague found him in his work office…unconscious, she called the hospital but once he got there, he didn't make it." Mum only found out after he had died and so she called me, I had to go there and visit him and I closed my cell-phone while I was there so that there wasn't anyone disturbing us while we were giving our farewell to dad. I'm sorry Karina that I left you waiting but I didn't know what else to do until after I left the hospital." Kenji saw that Karina had started crying already, he handed her a tissue and tried to comfort her.

"I really didn't want to ruin your day Karina and I couldn't tell you yesterday, it was just too hard." He explained. Karina still had half of her meal left as she had no appetite to eat anymore and Kenji on the other hand cancelled his meal and just kept to his drink.

"Kenji…This isn't fair, I find out I'm adopted, my adoptive mother is dead and now your dad's gone, he was part of my family though…" Karina sobbed. Life was too tragic; right now she needed a shoulder to cry on.

"I know…Karina…but you do realise, we still have my mum and you have me too." Kenji tried to stay on the positive side.

"I think…we should get out of here." Karina ran out the door as Kenji gave the waitress the money and ran after her.

"Karina…things will be okay…I promise, just think, dad's up there and he's happy, I'm sure of it." Kenji put his arm around her shoulder.

"I guess this has happened to me too many times, I should be okay…Kenji, thanks but I have to go, I'm supposed to meet my friends at the amusement park right now." Karina told him.

"Oh okay….we'll are you sure you're okay?"

"I'll be fine. Just make sure you tell me when the funeral dates are held, I promise I'll attend." Karina put on a brave face.

"Sure…and Karina…I love you." Kenji answered.

"Love you too…Bye!" She called out as she started walking off.

Kenji's p.o.v

'She doesn't get it, every time I try to say it to her, she treats it like I don't mean it that way, she thinks that I only love her as a friend, but I've tried to tell her, why doesn't she understand that I really love her as in love her, love her kind of way. She knows I've turned down almost all the girls in my high school for her…I guess right now's not a good time to be saying this after dad passed away. But I've gotta get that into her head that I care about her a lot. Keeping secrets from her just doesn't feel right and if I tell her next time, maybe I should explain how I feel about her. But what's the bet that I'll chicken out by the time I actually start talking about this to her.' Kenji sighed heavily.

* * *

"Hey Tohru, sorry I'm late." Karina saw Kyo's bright orange head that stood out in the crowd.

She gave Kyo a friendly hug for fun and smiled at Yuki. Luckily the situation about her guardian father was getting better so she could be in a good mood for the rides in the amusement park plus she'd be spending time with her friends and her half-brother Kyo who she adored lovingly for his not on purpose sense of humour.

"Geez…at least you're not Kagura." Kyo complained although he didn't seem to mind so much.

"So how about the Haunted house?" Karina suggested halfway until she saw the look of fear on Tohru's face that meant a no.

"Or not." She added.

"No, I want to get in there and face my fears." Tohru tightened her fists.

"You know the last time you said that, you almost fainted from phobia of the mechanical ghosts." Kyo corrected her.

"Miss Honda, are you sure you want to do this?" Yuki asked.

"Yes, come on, all of you are here, I should be fine!" Tohru said cheerfully hiding the nerves inside of her.

"Okay…I'm just kind of glad Haru's not here, last time he was here, he broke the ghost's head off." Yuki mentioned as Karina started laughing.

"Alright Haunted house it is! Tohru don't worry, you'll be fine." Karina gave her a look of confidence as she entered the Haunted house first with Tohru scurrying after her holding Kyo's hand with Yuki walking slowly behind.

"Come on Yuki, hurry up." Karina stopped and waited for him then grabbed his hand and ran after Kyo and Tohru.

"AARRGGH!" A scary looking vampire with fake blood from his teeth jumped out in front of Tohru and scared the hell out of her.

"Oww." Kyo felt Tohru's hand clutch tighter and tighter.

"Alright, you look petrified, let's get you out of here." Kyo walked faster and walked in front since he just smirked whenever a ghost came out.

"Poof!" Kyo had transformed into a cat after Tohru had hugged him during another ghost appearance. Luckily it was so dark that everyone was unable to see where the noise had come from. Tohru looked down and spotted Kyo, she quickly carried him in her arms and ran out of the ghost house with her eyes closed since it was straight ignoring all the ghosts.

"Hey, where's Tohru and Kyo?" Karina asked noticing their sudden disappearance.

"I'm not sure, I think their already outside." Yuki replied.

"Oh well Tohru's doing really good then." Karina grinned then felt her heart jump as a skeleton leaped out and tapped her on the back.

"Are you sure you don't have a fear for ghosts?" Yuki asked.

"Uhh…well…I just hate it when they touch me…" Karina shivered.

Finally they could see the end of the long tunnel as they spotted Tohru and Kyo waiting for them. He had changed back and Tohru was looking slightly better,

"So how'd you do Miss Honda?" Yuki looked at Tohru's fake-smile face.

"Fine…just fine." Tohru lied.

"Although she did pretty well on running out of the tunnel with her eyes closed." Kyo ruffled her hair.

"Haha." Tohru gave a nervous laugh of embarrassment.

"Maybe we should try something else." Kyo looked around the big theme park.

"How about a Ferris Wheel?" Tohru looked at the colourful but high Ferris wheel.

"Sure, right after I get some cotton candy." Karina grabbed her wallet out and bought one for each one of them.

"Thanks." Kyo started to eat as they made their way towards the Ferris wheel.

"Come on Kyo, let's go." Tohru pulled him towards an orange coloured Ferris wheel car and jumped in and closed the door behind them.

"Oh man, they left us loners again." Karina joked.

"Haha, oh well, we'll go together then." Yuki gave her a heart-warming smile as she blushed lightly. They were having a great time so far and there were still so many rides to go on.

"Wow, Kyo look at the view!" Tohru pointed out at the overall scene of the whole theme park.

"Yea…it's big." Kyo looked down at Yuki and Karina's car under and behind them.

They looked like they were talking and having fun…that was until he saw Karina lean in to give Yuki a kiss on the cheek. He stood up instantly and banged his head hard on the small roof above him since he was tall.

"Aaargh." Kyo felt a lump on his head.

"Oh my gosh, Kyo are you alright?" Tohru turned around and looked at Kyo.

"Damn rat." Kyo muttered.

"What?" Tohru asked a bit confused.

"Nothing…nothing." Kyo rubbed his sore head.

"What happened to your head?"

"I just banged it when I stood up. Nothing big." Kyo reassured her turning his attention back on Yuki and Karina.

'What in the world are they talking about and what the hell is that damn rat doing?' He asked himself spying on them as Tohru looked at him oddly seeing what he was looking at. Kyo slowly noticed her.

"What are you looking at Kyo?" Tohru questioned.

"Uhh…the scenery below us." Kyo made up a quick answer.

"Silly Kyo, you don't have to look behind, just look under our feet there's a see through floor." Tohru laughed as he felt dumbfounded.

"Yea…I didn't see that."

After a number of rides, they decided to go on one last ride which would be the love tunnel where you would sit on a swan like boat and into a romantic tunnel with lighting effects and hearts and beautiful gardens around them. They saw a row of couples queuing behind the line and going on the boat into the sweet large tunnel behind these grass curtains with a waterfall on walls of the tunnel.

"Okay…let's try this one, it looks fun."

"Oh it's so beautiful!" Tohru gasped.

"Oh no…" Kyo whined as Yuki stayed quiet. This was more of a girl thing to them that they thought it was best to keep silent.

"So who's going to go with me?" Karina gave direct looks at Kyo and Yuki.

"Uhh…" Was their reply.

"Guys…it'll be fun." Karina pleaded.

"I'm your half-brother, it'll look weird." Kyo said. This was an opportunity to try to hear what Yuki and Karina were talking about before.

"Alright, I'll go with you then." Yuki took her hand as they showed the pass to the people activating the ride. They were seated in a purple boat and Kyo and Tohru were seated in a turquoise coloured boat as the boat started to move into the grand tunnel.

"Wow this is fascinating." Karina took out her camera and started snapping pictures even though she wasn't meant to.

"Yea, the lightings great." Yuki answered.

They had just passed a section where there were willow trees that hung over them and shiny lights stuck on the ceiling that shone on the boats as they passed.

"No wonder why they call this the romantic tunnel, or shall I say the tunnel of love." Tohru giggled as she watched the glistening water leaving cripples as the boat moved.

"Yea…yea." Kyo answered trying not to sound too bored as he tried to make the boat go faster in order to hear what the rat and his half-sister were saying. He placed his hand in the water and started to paddle even though he knew it would only make him look like an idiot.

"Kyo, what are you doing?" Tohru saw his hand in the water.

"Enjoying the uhh…temperature of the water…and seeing if there's any fish in there." Kyo replied.

"Oh well get ready because there's a camera coming up and we might want to take a good picture." Tohru insisted as she pointed at the camera above their heads just a few metres away.

"Ok."

--------------------------------------------------------------------

"Yuki…say cheese!" Karina told Yuki as she put her arm around Yuki's neck and smiled at the camera for a funny pose that would make everyone think that they were a couple.

"Cool, let's just hope I didn't blink." Yuki laughed as the tunnel reached its end.

It was Kyo and Tohru's turn for their picture when Kyo was still glaring at the boat in front of him. 'Something's going on between those two….are they secretly a couple?' Kyo thought suspiciously.

"Smile Kyo." Tohru called out while Kyo just gave an annoyed look at the camera.

"Finally, the rides over." Kyo complained as he jumped out of the boat and helped Tohru.

Then he remembered something, he sprinted to the photo booth and tried to find Yuki's picture after handing his to Tohru, not wanting it himself. Soon realising that Yuki had already taken it and given it to Karina with a copy of his own since they purchased two, Kyo got agitated.

"What are those two up to?" He said out loud.

"Kyo, Tohru!…come on, we're leaving!" Karina shouted.

"Oh wow, I love this photo but I can't help but notice…Kyo you looked unhappy." Tohru pointed out on the photo with his grumpy expression.

"Nah, that was just because I hate photos." Kyo joked.

"Oh ok." Tohru understood.

"Karina, how about I walk you home?" Yuki suggested as Kyo overheard him.

'Yup they're definitely up to something.' Kyo glared at Yuki.

"Oh no it's okay, I'm fine, I'll just call a taxi and be on my way home, besides I don't want to cause you guy's trouble. See ya! And thanks for an awesome time." She waved.

'Or maybe I'm just being paranoid today.' Kyo relaxed a little.

"Come on you stupid cat, Tohru will be serving leeks today, you wouldn't wanna miss it." Yuki said trying to annoy Kyo.

"What!"

"Oh no, I think Yuki was only joking." Tohru interrupted.

"Damn rat."

* * *

"Oh welcome home, you three!" Shigure's over-excited voice filled the air.

"What is it this time, you sound like you're hiding something." Yuki and Kyo exchanged glances.

"Well no, I'm not going to hide it, guess who we have as a guest?" Shigure slid the door open to reveal a scary looking Akito.

"Hello Yuki, Tohru, Kyo." His icy voice froze the room into a million ice cubes.

* * *

A/N: So how was that for chapter 2? A little of sadness and some humour but I hope you liked it! Review if you can, I wanna know what you think of this. Thx 


	3. Chapter 3: Chemistry

A/N: A note, I don't know if Akito can drive or not but I'll say that in this story, he does know and one more thing, I do know he is a girl, but I prefer him to stay as a boy for this story.

**Chapter 3: Chemistry**

Yuki, Tohru and Kyo sat down opposite Akito while Shigure went to the kitchen to prepare some tea. Time went as slow as ever when Akito started to speak.

"So you two obviously have forgotten that I invited you to a special banquet this afternoon."

"Me? I thought…" Normally the cat wasn't allowed to attend which made Kyo confused.

"Yes, it's not a new year's party, it's just a gathering to see how you are all doing, you were invited Kyo, I gave you an opportunity to prove yourself and now you've lost the chance. See what this girl has done to you, haha going to an amusement park, so inappropriate." Akito snickered while blaming Tohru.

"Akito, it's not her fault, I decided to go." Yuki corrected.

"Silence, I didn't ask you to give you're opinion of the matter now tell me about this new girl you've been extremely close to recently, she better not know about the curse." Akito threatened as Yuki started to shiver.

"Her name's Karina, she's a good friend of ours." Yuki tried to keep the curse part secret.

"And what else? Does she know of our Sohma curse?"

"I don't think so." Kyo lied.

"YOU IMBECILE!" Akito suddenly got up and threw the snacks plate onto the floor causing it to break, giving everyone a fright.

"Don't act like I don't know about that incident Kyo you fool! I know everything about you're relationship with her! I know she's you're half sister, so don't try to lie to me!" Akito shouted.

Kyo, Yuki and Tohru were left speechless.

"Haha, just because Kazuma refused to tell me, my loyal Shigure did well on gathering all the facts from you're big mouth and transferring the information to me."

A fireball of anger appeared inside of Kyo and Yuki as they glared at Shigure, he had revealed their secret to Akito, it was so close to betrayal.

"So let me tell you something, even if she could be the cure to our curse, I won't allow you to simply make your own decisions. You two even dare to lie to me, the head of your family! I'm going to leave it at that tonight but don't disappoint again or else the worst can come your way, so you better be prepared for it!" Akito warned them as he stomped out of the house and drove off in his car.

* * *

"We've decided on the dates for the funeral, it'll be next weekend, do you think you can make it?" Kenji asked Karina as he sat in the couch in her apartment while making phone calls.

"Mm…Sure that's good." Karina nodded writing down the event in her planner.

"Okay, great. Umm…Karina I'm just gonna make a trip to the convenience store to get something."

"Alright, see you later."

Karina started to browse her wardrobe for items she could wear to the funeral when she heard her door open.

"Back already?" Karina asked thinking it was Kenji.

"So I finally get to meet you Karina Sohma." A death-seeking voice made Karina's heart stop. If it wasn't Kenji, then who was it? She turned around to find a tall slim black haired guy, quite young that looked somehow powerful and dominant.

"Who are you?" She asked backing down a bit.

"That's a good question, maybe I shouldn't tell you, I wouldn't want to spoil the fun."

"What do you want?" This guy was creepy and if she had the opportunity Karina would run out the door but it was impossible since he was blocking it shutting the door behind him.

"Your attention."

"Well you have it, now tell me why you're here."

"I've noticed a strange feeling around you, but I don't like it at all, in fact I hate it, I need to get rid of it, so perhaps I should get rid of you." He laughed with an evil tone.

Before she could duck for cover, the man had swung his leg and kicked her around the stomach causing her to trip and fall to the ground. Although she was hurt, she still tried to get away staggering to her feet and facing the man she soon felt a pounding pain on her head as she black out unaware of what had happened.

* * *

"Karina! Come on wake up." Kenji's voice entered her head as she opened her eyes seeing a humongous blurry mess around her. Then she remembered the man wearing black was attacking her even though she tried to defend herself, he was just too strong and there was a sign of expertise in martial arts in that man. She sat up seeing herself on the couch, maybe Kenji had managed to get her there himself.

"Are you alright?" His face was full of worry as she saw blood on his hands.

"Kenji, you're hands are bleeding!" She stammered trying to get a closer look.

"It's from you're head, you're the one who's bleeding." Kenji pointed out while she felt a tight bandage around her forehead. Then she saw it, the room was completely turned inside out with the vases on the floor, the books off the shelf, signs of deliberate vandalizing.

"My apartment…" Karina's eyes turned watery.

"Karina, what happened to you? I was so worried, afraid that…that…never-mind…but you seriously scared me to death." Kenji's eyes were red and stressed.

"I don't know, after you had left, a man came in wearing complete black, he wanted to kill me and he nearly did. All I remember is feeling a sharp pain on my head and then falling unconscious." Karina explained reliving the moment of horror.

"Who was it, we have to call the police."

"Kenji…don't, I really don't think I should get the police involved with this, I just have a feeling it's got nothing to do with just attempted murder, it's beyond that."

"But we have to find out who did this to you." He protested.

"I have a feeling he will come back if you contact the police." Karina stopped him from picking up the phone.

"Ok...well do you need anything? Water? Ice? Something to eat?"

"Kenji, stop panicking, I'm fine."

"Karina, I'm just worried."

"Worried about what?"

"You of course, I've never seen you in such a mess."

"Mess? What is that suppose to mean?"

"I mean…you've…you've changed…a lot."

"Me? Changed?"

"It's confusing…just forget what I said." Kenji dropped the subject as he felt himself going nowhere with this conversation since Karina couldn't understand the point where he was heading towards.

"I'm going to get you a glass of water." He stood up and walked to the messy kitchen.

"So…are you hiding something?" Karina suspected a slight oddness in Kenji's voice.

"Huh?"

"Come on, I know you want to tell me something, just tell me." Karina gave him a hopeful look.

Kenji passed Karina the glass of water and sat down beside her looking down at the carpet trying to figure out the words that were all jumbled up inside his head.

"Karina…." He paused.

"Yes?" She gave him a signal to carry on speaking since he was slowly gaining the confidence.

"Umm…ever wondered why I've never actually dated anyone?"

"Apart from you being drop dead handsome and making all the girls in our high school drool…no not really but I'd really like to know why Kenji, you've always kept things to yourself, why not let it out?"

"It's because I turned them down…I rejected all the girls that asked me out." Kenji said after taking a deep breath.

"Serious, you really turned ALL of them down?" Karina repeated.

"Well yea…except for one…but she never asked me out anyway and I was too shy to ask her out because I thought she didn't feel the same way about me, I was afraid that she'd turn me down because of various reasons." Kenji was beginning to open up.

"Oh…tell me more?" Karina got interested and was curious to know.

"And when I thought I had the courage to tell her how I feel, she moved away to another place and didn't keep in contact with me for a long time."

"That's sad…was she in our class?"

"Yea."

"What was she like?"

"Fun, Bubbly, Really pretty too, she always had some jokes up her sleeve."

"Wow, I'd sure like to meet that girl." Karina laughed although she couldn't help but feel a little awkward at what Kenji was saying.

"I think you've already met her." Kenji answered.

"Oh really? So lets see…hmm…it's a girl that you've always liked.."

"The only girl I've ever liked." Kenji corrected.

"Oh…okay…and she was in our class but she moved away and she's fun, bubbly, uhh really pretty? And uhh with humour….."

"And I've known her for a while." He added.

Suddenly Karina felt a strange feeling inside of her…wait I think I know this girl….that girl is me...ahh….no it can't be…it really can't be…..Kenji's never had an actual crush on me….but I'm the only person that makes sense to all it really be me? She started to cough madly.

"Kenji…is that….person…me?" She gulped while feeling ever so embarrassed at asking that question. Kenji didn't answer; instead he just turned bright red and looked away while nodding.

"Oh my god….you had a crush on me?"

"Karina, I've been trying to tell you…"

"Oh my god." Karina said it again with her mouth wide open.

"The other day…when I said I ..love you…I really meant it…but you always seemed to take it the other way…..like I love you as a friend….but I don't…I mean I do…..just more….than that…" He stuttered while Karina still kept her mouth open.

"That can't be true." Karina had always had a crush on Kenji back in college, but he had always seemed to misjudge her feelings. But when they kept secrets from each other, and when they soon realised, it all came down to a huge misunderstanding.

"It is…true…I've just never been brave enough to tell you that because I always thought you'd reject me…"

"Kenji! I would never reject you, I liked you way before you became friends with me! How could you think that I would be so you tell that I liked you too?"

"Uhh…no.." Kenji admitted with shame.

"Oh…okay…well I guess we're pretty stupid huh?" Karina could sense a bit of humour in the situation that made her laugh.

"I can't believe I took that long to guess that….but I have to give you credit for making up that guessing game with clues and all." She added.

"I couldn't find another way to tell you….it's hard."

"I know…but I mean that thing with turning down all the girls at you're high school? Whoa, I could imagine how many hearts you broke."

"Yea but I bet they only wanted to have a go at me because I was popular, good-looking and rich, they never liked me for the real me….unlike you."

"Thanks…I guess I should be thanking you too after you convinced you're family to take me in as part of their lives."

"Nah…it's nothing."

"No…It truly something….trust me." Karina spoke softly.

_Flashback:_

_Karina was in the school grounds eating her lunch by herself._

"_Hey you…you're that new girl huh? Well let me tell you something, you're not welcome here so I suggest you leave this school, we're sick of you sticking around our faces and acting all innocent." A mean-looking boy snatched her lunch and squashed it with his foot._

"_Go Away you stupid head!" Karina shouted._

"_What did you just call me? A stupid head? Is that what you think I am?" The boy grabbed her hair and started to pull on it._

"_Hey! Leave her alone Hachiro! She's a friend of mine." Kenji pulled the boy off._

"_Oh..Kenji...is she you're friend? I never realised, oh well gotta go to class." The boy known as Hachiro ran off._

"_Hey, thanks." Karina smiled as Kenji helped her up._

"_Sorry about that, I'm Kenji Yoshida, you're new right?"_

"_Karina Sohma, nice to meet you."_

"_Oh well you can sit by me and my friends at lunchtime tomorrow and I'll show you to you're classes if you want."_

"_You'd do that? Thanks a lot."_

_End of Flashback_

Before Karina could say anything more, Kenji held onto her hand tightly and leaned in and kissed her. It was Karina's first kiss and it was a bit strange that they were kissing in a messy apartment that had just been trashed. Although Kenji didn't seem to mind, he completely ignored the things around him and focused on Karina. But somehow…even though Karina was happy that Kenji liked her, she didn't feel any amazing sparks that came out of that kiss, the question was why?

* * *

"So did you like tonight's dinner?" Tohru asked Yuki as she washed the dishes.

"Yes. It was delicious as always." Yuki helped dry the dishes.

"Okay…so please tell me that there is only one week of school left." Kyo came into the room.

"Oh hi Kyo, and yes there is only one week left right after the exams finish." Tohru replied.

"Ah, I'm so relieved, that means Valentine 's Day isn't on a school day, I just hope Kagura doesn't come around and ruin my weekend." Kyo sighed.

He looked back at Yuki and Tohru, then spotted Yuki wasn't drying the dishes anymore, instead he was looking at a picture….the picture from the amusement park that he had taken on the Tunnel of Love ride with Karina. He walked closed and yep, it was just as he predicted … something was going on inside the damn rat's head.

* * *

A/N: Okay…yea I know, my story's a little confusing with the relationships at the moment but I did tell ya that this was going to be a complicated story. So if I could get you're ideas for a change about who you think should end up with my OC Karina? Yuki? Kenji or strangely enough….Kyo? Of course I'll leave some room for Tohru right after I get you're ideas and once I sort out my story. But I really hope that you are finding this interesting so far, so yea bring in you're ideas as soon as possible and Chapter 4 will be up in no time. 


	4. Chapter 4: Ignorance

A/N: Hi all sorry for a slightly slow update, I've had a major writers block recently but many thanks for your suggestions and contributions to my story and you're kind reviews. I promise I won't make as many errors as the last chapter…lol. Just one thing's for sure, Karina won't be ending up with Kyo (duh, their uhh half siblings.) Of course you'll have to see later on who's ending up with Karina between Yuki and Kenji but right now I shouldn't give it away. By the way for people who don't know who Kakeru is? Well he's part of the student council as the vice president.

**Chapter 4: Ignorance**

Finally the exams were over in preparation for the winter holidays. Tohru dropped her pen and handed her exam paper to the teacher's desk as she sat back down enjoying the sensation of pressure being lifted off her shoulders and her brain. Soon after, the bell rang as everyone gave a happy sigh at the thought of the holidays getting nearer.

"Hello Kyo, how'd you do in you're exam?" She smiled cheerfully.

"Not bad, It was the lamest test though, half of the stuff was based on pointless issues." He did his usual complain-report.

"Umm…ok…and how about you Yuki?" She turned around and faced an empty chair and desk.

"Tohru, the prince left 15 minutes ago, he finished the test real early." Uo mentioned.

"Yea…and Karina didn't come to school today, I'm not sure why though." Hana entered the conversation.

"Really? I wonder what's going on."

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Yuki walked along the school hallway as he reached his locker and opened it, a huge amount of love/fan letters and chocolates fell to the ground in front of him.

"But…Valentines day isn't until this weekend, why are they celebrating it so early?" He asked himself as he picked up the numerous items.

When he turned around his eye was caught by the student council notice board that his vice-president Kakeru had put on display many love-themed pictures and messages. 'Maybe their just celebrating Valentines day early.' Yuki thought when suddenly he dropped all his chocolates on the floor and stepped closer to the notice board and read.

"President Yuki Sohma, the prince of Kaibara High may have gotten his first girlfriend already, take a look below at this magnificent picture taken at the amusement park recently with the girl identified as Karina Sohma who shares the same last name as yun-yun himself, is he hiding something from us? Who knows?"

Yuki looked down underneath the article and there was a picture of him and Karina on the love tunnel ride, not to mention feeling embarrassed as heaps of people could've seen that picture, he was also angry at his vice-president for doing such a thing without his permission. He snatched it off the notice board and tore the message into pieces while checking his locker for the picture, it was missing, no wonder, it had fallen out of his locker and they had taken it secretly so they could display it to the public. Yuki stomped off towards the student council meeting room as Kakeru's voice edged nearer behind the plain wooden door. Without knocking, he pushed the door open and threw the torn pieces of paper towards Kakeru.

"President Yuki? What's this?"

"My reputation!" Yuki came closer and started giving him a big tell off.

"You took this picture that had fallen out of my locker, you displayed it to the public without my permission and now everyone's going to think that I'm dating Karina you idiot! How could you be so absent-minded." He said as the rest of the council kept quiet and watched the scene of their usually calm president shouting at the vice-president.

"Yuki, you should be thanking me, now those Prince Yuki Fan club girls will leave you alone knowing that you are occupied with a particular someone.."

"Shut up, when did you put this on the board?" Yuki interjected while feeling a strange blush come to his cheeks with everyone in the room listening to their conversation about his love life.

"At lunch today." Kakeru answered.

"Fine, if anyone asks, I am not dating Karina Sohma and don't go invading my locker space!" Yuki stormed out of the room leaving Kakeru and the other's quiet.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Karina woke up at the late hours of 11:30am finding Kenji asleep on the fold up bed in the living room that was now spotless.

'Well I'm obviously not going to school today, my throbbing headache's seriously killing me, and what? Did Kenji clean up this mess for me last night? I really don't remember doing that myself.' Karina looked around at the job Kenji had done during the time she had slept. She was still trying to figure out what had happened last night, after a mysterious man had invaded her house and broken all her ornaments giving her injuries, plus Kenji's confession and that strange kiss and all….

"Morning Kenji." She smiled as he stretched and smiled back at her.

"Hi, so what do you think of the living room?" He asked in a cheeky voice.

"It's so clean, thank you."

"No worries." He got up and opened the curtains.

"How's your head?" He asked seeing her taking panadol out of the cupboard.

"Uhh…it just hurts… a headache, that's all." She didn't want to make a big deal out of it since Kenji had already done enough for 2 days; it would be rude to worry him even more about her own problems.

"So Kenji, what are you planning to do these days, I mean after…" Karina didn't want to say the word 'dad' or 'death' as it would be kind of mean.

"Yea, well I'm meant to be staying at a hotel here for about…2 more days and then I'm going back to my house with mom and I'll help her with the guest list for the funeral this weekend." Kenji knew what she was going to ask although it didn't bother him too much.

"Okay."

"What about you? Are you going to stay at Tokyo permanently or you can move back with us anytime you like." Kenji questioned back at her.

"Actually, umm…I'm probably going to stay here to finish high school maybe, I'm not so sure about university yet but for the meantime, Tokyo's great."

"Oh ok." He gave a plain answer; Karina saw his eye was attracted to a certain thing or picture, she took and closer look and saw Kenji picking up the picture of her and Yuki and eyeing it out carefully especially the bit where it said 'Memories on the Tunnel of Love'.

"So….who's this?" He pointed to Yuki.

"My friend Yuki." She replied.

"Sure he's not you're boyfriend? You know it says tunnel of love." Kenji raised an eyebrow.

"It was basically just for fun, it's nothing really, I mean I'm not really dating him." Karina knew she was telling the truth that they were 'just friends' but somehow she felt a guilty feeling inside her stomach, as if she was lying to Kenji about them being 'just friends.'

"Alright, if you say so."

"Why? Are you…jealous?" She ignored the guilty feeling and started to tease Kenji.

"Huh? Jealous? No way." Kenji denied throwing a pillow at her playfully.

"Well anyway, I'm sure you might want to meet him one day, he's a really nice person, you should meet my half-brother Kyo too, oh and Tohru."

"Half brother?" Kenji sounded surprised.

"Yea, don't tell me you've forgotten, I'm sure I've told you about that thing before."

"Umm…maybe…no wait you have but I haven't met him before." Kenji remembered. He was felt slightly dominated by Karina's best friends since she made them sound so friendly and how she always talked about how they changed her life becoming friends with her and all that.

"Which is my point, oh well, don't worry, you'll get to meet them one day."

"Yea…sure…whatever." He replied bluntly.

---------------------------------------------

Kyo walked home with Tohru since Yuki had already gone off somewhere without a sign. After stopping at the grocery store to buy dinner, they were on the way back to Shigure's home while walking past the nearby park.

"Kyo are you sure those bags aren't getting too heavy for you?" Tohru asked concerned as always.

"Nah, it's no problem." He replied smiling at her reassuringly.

"Wow I can't believe there is only 4 days left of school, I really can't wait till winter break, there's so much to do nowadays."

"Yea like attending a stupid banquet that Akito's going to hold soon for every one of us, what's the bet he's planning something." Kyo scoffed.

"Another banquet? Oh I didn't know that."

"Yea, he said to mind my discretion but I really don't give a damn about what that Akito says."

"Well when is it?" Tohru asked.

"This weekend, so we won't be having dinner at home this Saturday, if you don't mind being home alone…" Kyo stopped, he didn't want to say that she was uninvited but by the innocent expression on her face, he knew it was obvious what he meant.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." Tohru forced a smile. She hoped that Akito wouldn't do something bad to Kyo or Yuki since the last time they went, Yuki was injured after Akito threw a vase at his head. The thought of another banquet just made her shudder.

-----------------------------------

'hmm…since I've got nothing after school today, maybe I should visit Karina and find out why she missed out on school today, she seemed fine the other day at the amusement park.' Yuki thought as he stopped in his tracks to look for Karina's apartment.

He soon found it and took the lift to her room and knocked on the door waiting for a reply. To tell the truth he felt a bit awkward after being assumed that they were a couple by none other than the irresponsible cheesy Kakeru. Luckily there wasn't a picture spot when she kissed on the cheek during the Ferris wheel ride, otherwise his denial would've seemed fake. The door opened to reveal a tall dark brown headed boy about his height, quite handsome with dark blue eyes, he looked like someone that would've been equal popular in Kaibara High as the Prince Yuki.

"Can I help you?" The boy asked.

"My name's Yuki Sohma, I'm looking for Karina." Yuki answered.

"Sohma Yuki did you say?" The boy grew slightly suspicious.

"Yes…umm…is she home?"

"Yea, hold on I'll just get her." The boy scratched his head and walked off calling Karina's name.

Karina came back with a happy expression but shot to a surprised one when she saw Yuki at the door, her head still had the bandage on but thank goodness for the tidy room that Kenji had cleaned just recently.

"Uhh…hey Yuki."

"Hello Karina, I was just stopping by to see if you were okay, I mean you weren't at school today and you missed an exam. Is everything alright?" Yuki questioned.

"Everything's fine." Kenji muttered while stopping Karina from speaking. Somehow, Kenji's voice had sounded colder than usual and Karina felt a slight tension in Kenji towards Yuki.

"Umm…okay…oh what happened to your head?"

"I'm fine…minor accident, would you like to come in?" Karina asked trying to ignore Kenji's reaction.

"Sure." Yuki closed the door behind him.

"Good, I'll just get some tea." Karina scurried off while spying on the two.

"So you're the guy who went to the amusement park with Karina?" Kenji started a conversation.

"Uhh yea I did…umm who are you?" Yuki asked feeling a bit rude.

"The name's Kenji Yoshida, I'm Karina's boyfriend." He quickly shut his mouth realising what he had just said as Karina who had been eavesdropping in their conversation accidentally butted in.

"What?" She said aloud before turning her back on them and pretending that nothing happened.

There was an awkward silence as Yuki's insides froze with a strange feeling, Karina returned to making the tea and Kenji on the other hand clasped his mouth with his hand and couldn't help but feel extremely idiotic.

"Umm well here's the tea." Karina rushed into the room nearly spilling it since she was so flustered after the long pause.

"Thanks." Yuki took the tea and started drinking it while Kenji's head was pounding from regret and stupid-ness.

"So….you never told me you were dating?" He turned his attention towards Karina.

"Haha…umm…Kenji was just joking… certainly we are not dating, we're just good friends."

"I'm going to the bathroom." Kenji trailed off leaving Yuki and Karina speechless.

"Oh ok…well I really don't want to tell you this but my vice-president Kakeru Manabe …well he found our picture and he pinned it onto the school council notice board during lunch today and I'm not exactly sure how many people viewed it or read the short summary of it, people think…we're dating." Yuki changed the subject to another that also made Karina's heart jump.

"No way….did you take it off?" Karina blushed madly.

"Yea and I told him clearly that we are not dating and we never will, I hope he gets that into his head." Yuki laughed it off.

"Great." Karina answered sarcastically though Yuki didn't notice the tone of her voice was partly negative.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Does he really mean that? Does he actually think that we will never ever date? I thought I might've had a slight chance of getting to know him better but I suppose that's not gonna happen. Oh snap out of it Karina, Yuki doesn't like you the way you think he does….oh I feel so stupid to be able to think that we would ever be a couple…It's a really dumb idea not to mention unrealistic.' Karina was strong in her doubts after Yuki's last words before he left for home.

"Kenji! I can't believe you told him you were my boyfriend!" Karina caught Kenji when he came out of the bathroom and started to snap at him.

"Umm…why are you so angry?"

"Because you told him something that wasn't true and now he's gonna think…"

"Why….do you like him?"

"Why were you so cold towards him? It was as if you didn't like him….it was a bad impression and now I don't think he'll think of you as the real you anymore." Karina decided not to answer the question…instead she just carried on with a different argument.

"I don't really like him..." Kenji admitted.

"And why is that?"

"Dunno."

"Kenji…"

"But Karina….I thought we were a couple? I mean…last night I told you…"

"I never said we were a couple." Karina answered.

"So then…what are we? Just friends? Because it really doesn't feel that way when I'm with you and I'm sure it doesn't when you're with me either." Kenji stated.

"It's complicated…." Was all Karina could say.

"Yea I find it confusing. Karina…do you like me or what? As a friend or more that that? You can't keep everything to yourself forever you know." Kenji stepped closer and embraced her hoping that would calm her down a bit since her face looked frustrated and stressed.

"Can we please finish this conversation another time?" Karina pleaded.

"Sure." Kenji kissed her forehead.

"Well I guess you should go home now." Karina suggested remembering that Kenji wasn't staying at this town for long as he was going back to where his mom lived.

"You okay?"

"I'm alright, I'll see you at the funeral."

"Ok. Bye Karina." He waved as Karina closed the door and took a deep breath.

'I'm so confused, whether to fall in love with Yuki or keep going with Kenji? It's all getting muddled up and I don't know which one to choose…number 1, with Kenji I don't know if it would work out since we live in different towns and since we've been friends ever since I can remember and now suddenly…he admits his love for me….and number 2, Yuki, I like him but I don't know if he feels the same way about me, there are strong signs that he may already be in love with Tohru…but that's hard because with the way Kyo looks at her, it's obvious that he liked her too….maybe I should just leave it for now…'

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Okay…now the story's getting deeper into the plot, I hope you're getting the idea of it. Thanks for reading.


	5. Chapter 5: Ice

**Chapter 5: Ice**

By the end of the week, everyone had completed their exams, fare-welled each other and had left school for the Winter break. The temperature had fallen to -2 degrees and the ponds and lakes were beginning to freeze, the air was fresh and cold with frost settling slowly on each windowsill in Tokyo and the trees and buildings were covered with a thin layer of pure white snow. Tohru sat in her bed and turned the heater on while scribbling words into her daily diary and taking out her mother's photo album which she kept under her pillow every night.

In front of her was also a neat parcel that was wrapped with ribbons and wrapping paper that shone as it was metallic. She received this from the mailbox that morning and yet she hadn't opened it yet, the reason why was simply because, the address from where it was sent from, resembled a place she knew….a place in which she lived in….a place called home where she and her mother used to live together when her father Katsuya died. The words on the back read Kyoko Honda, her mother's own name imprinted with her handwriting although it was slightly smudged from the wet ink back then.

Tohru wondered why she would've received a parcel from her mother herself, since she was dead, she then let her eye wander to the date on the bottom right corner, the parcel seemed to be sent before her mother died...just a few weeks before. Tohru remembered eventually the day her mother went away and left Tohru with her grandpa, it was when her mother had a job conference and had to go all the way to Kyoto just for a meeting. She was 15 when that happened and right now she was 16.

She slid her fingers onto the ribbon untying it slowly with ease, she was careful not to rip it since she felt that whatever was inside was something really fragile and precious. Soon she had removed the ribbon and was now onto the wrapping paper. After what seemed like endless minutes, she held the object in front of her with tears in her eyes. A picture of her father and mother with a baby Tohru in their arms, they're faces grinning with pride. This was the first time Tohru had seen a picture of her dad since he died when she was so young that she hadn't been able to capture his face enough to keep it in her memory.

She dug inside the box after taking a good look at the photo and found something else, a musical jewellery box that would play a sweet melody as you open it, since it was so dusty it covered the image that was put inside the transparent photo holder on the top. She opened the lock from the back and took the photo out, it was her and Kyoko when they were much older with Uo as well. She accidentally dropped the box and got a huge fright afraid that it would break, she quickly picked it up noticing another picture falling out from behind. She bent down and analysed it then blew off the dust, her eyes widened.

The picture that was behind the other had Kyoko and a small boy, he was very cute…yet so familiar, she held it close to her face and saw the orange hair on him. 'Could this really be…..no it can't….but it looks so much like……..Kyo….?' Her heart beat fast as the real Kyo came into the room after knocking, he saw the look on her face and he shot a surprised glance at her.

"Umm…I was just gonna ask if you wanted to go out instead of staying in the house all the time but are you okay?" He asked as Tohru turned the photo around and showed it to him.

"This little boy….is that you?" She whispered as he felt a chilly feeling down his spine, he recognised not only him but the lady beside…he knew her.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The atmosphere was gloomy as sounds of sobbing filled the room, a sea of black clothing and the sight of a mere coffin lay in front of everyone's eyes.

"A great husband and a brilliant father, Kazuki Yoshida will always be remembered for his warm-heart and friendliness towards everyone in the community, his contribution will not be forgotten and neither will his love for his family, his job and his friends. We wish you all the best and rest in peace." The speaker announced as Karina took handkerchief out from her pocket and started to wipe her tears away and her guardian Risa did the same. Kenji had seated himself back next to Karina after placing a flower next to his dead father's coffin.

He saw the sadness in everyone's eyes and squeezed Karina's hand tightly. He wanted to be there for her, he wanted to support and give everything he could to her…maybe that way she would realise how much she really meant to him.

After the funeral, Karina had gone to the Yoshida residence just to see how things were going at their house. Risa had gotten a bit better but it was quite sad just to see Kenji and her living in such an empty…now lifeless home that no longer had as much cheerfulness as before when Kazuki was around. Risa had even considered selling the home since Kazuki made the majority of the profit and now that he was gone things would change… although they are quite rich, they would have a small chance of becoming bankrupt.

"Do you need anything? Food? Drinks?" Kenji appeared behind her after she walked around the house capturing the meaningless scene.

"I'm fine thanks." She forced a smile.

"I know what you're thinking…this place isn't suitable for mum and me anymore, we can't possibly live in such a big house like this with only 2 people and if we don't get out of this place then we can't move on." He read her thoughts.

"Tell me more…" Karina was interested in what he had to say.

"Everyday when mum comes back from work, she has a smile on her face, it's like she's expecting to see dad but she has set her hopes way too high and her illusions fade leaving her in reality…well in other words…dads no longer here. I just don't think she's ready to accept that yet, I mean…I feel bad, now we can't have family dinners anymore and we can't share the same family life, not to mention you're in Tokyo nowadays…but I don't know how long mum will take till she can see the truth and learn to carry on with life as a normal person." He explained, Karina was quite amazed at what Kenji was saying…it was like he said it straight from his heart which didn't happen very often.

"And what about you? Are you okay? Because I know you love you're mum but you got to know that you're fine with the situation before you move on to worrying about other people." Karina looked at him.

"I guess you could say I'm devastated…but I can handle it, besides I've felt that loss before."

"Huh? Really? When?" Kaori questioned.

"When you left without saying goodbye to me."

"Oh…that, I'm sorry, I never knew that would hurt you so bad..."

"Nah, it's ok."

"No it isn't…Kenji…I know how much you care for me…but the truth is I don't feel the same…"

"Kenji, I just got a call about where to place your dad's grave, do you have a suggestion?" Risa interrupted just as Karina had the courage to confess.

"Umm…maybe in that park that dad used to always take me, there is a cemetery there I think." Kenji answered.

"Oh good idea. Thank you Kenji, I think that is where it will be." She returned to her phone call as Kenji looked back at Karina.

"Uhh…sorry, what were you saying?"

Karina opened her mouth to speak but no words came out, and once they did, they didn't run as smooth as before.

"N-n-n-nothing…umm…I-I-It doesn't matter…."

"Karina are you okay? You look pale." He commented seeing the petrified look on her face.

"Yea…umm…I think I should be going back now, It's getting late and this isn't my home anymore so umm…cya…" She made her way to the exit just as Kenji grabbed her hand from behind and stopped her from reaching the door.

"You can stay here for tonight, the train isn't running right now and besides, this is your second home." He smiled….somehow Karina was always attracted to the special twinkle in his eye, it was one of his best features.

"I…uhh…"

"Come on, you've still got some stuff that you left here anyway."

"Oh…ok." She stuttered as the door remained untouched.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Where'd you get that?" Kyo took the photo from Tohru's hands.

"It was in the package that I got from my mother that was delayed for a year…I don't know how that happened but Kyo…why are you in the picture with my mother?" She asked with curiosity.

"Tohru…I think…I knew you're mum when I was little…" He told her.

"Kyo…how come I didn't know any of this…?"

"It was something that happened before my master took me in."

"Oh…I don't get it, how did she know you?"

"It just happened, your mum was really kind to me and…she treated me like other people unlike my own mother." Kyo replied bluntly.

"How come I never knew you when I was little?"

"I don't know…I just never met you….I guess…."

Tohru took Kyo's hands in hers as his eyes grew wide with surprise.

"Kyo, whatever happens, we'll still be friends right? Can you promise me that we won't keep big secrets from each other anymore? Please?" She gave him a pleading look.

"Yea…sure." He replied casually.

"Thank you Kyo."

Meanwhile Yuki walked past their open door at that exact time, Tohru and Kyo catching his eye as he stopped to stare. They looked like they were in their own world…together, gazing into each other's eyes…even a foreigner or a dumb student could tell that they were deeply in love…somehow Yuki felt slightly heartbroken…knowing that he had definitely lost against Kyo. Even though Kyo couldn't beat him in martial arts, he had gotten to Tohru first.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Karina closed the glass door behind her and stepped into the cold night air in the Yoshida's backyard garden. It was pretty large for a garden at home; there was a bridge over the water and trees everywhere, just the typical traditional tidy Japanese garden that you'd see in travel guides and tourist attractions, maybe just a smaller version of them though…but still beautiful in every way. She then spotted Kenji on the other side of the bridge, he was stargazing…with his back on the grass. Karina looked up and realised why Kenji was admiring the sky so much, it was basically a glittering blanket of stars and clouds passing by. She smiled and crossed the bridge while staring at the frozen lake beneath her. She lay down next to Kenji and decided to join him. She had never actually tried to relax while stargazing before, she'd never seen it as part of her enjoyment, it was just usually something she would do as she stepped onto the deck of her apartment.

"Hey." He greeted her.

"Hey to you too."

"It's amazing isn't it?"

"Definitely." Karina agreed.

"So how often do you do this?" She wondered.

"Every few nights when there's a lot of stars, it just calms me down you know, dad use to do this as well whenever he was stressed at work, it just seemed that he looked up there for guidance, supposedly I guess it might've helped him through hard times, this garden and the sky." Kenji explained.

"Wow…I should do this more often." Karina laughed.

"Yea, I think you should, sometimes I often ask myself if you're staring at the same sky as me at the same time. From Tokyo to Nagoya isn't too far don't you think?"

"I guess." Karina sighed, it had been a long day and just being able to forget all the bad memories kind of gave her a clear mind.

"Thanks for letting me stay here tonight, I mean after the drama you've been through, you're still willing to help me, I mean you're still concerned about me even though you're troubled, you always think of others before yourself, and that's a great thing, you're not self-centred at all, I like that." She admitted.

"Oh…thanks, I dunno, it just comes naturally." He answered.

"So you still attending the same school?"

"Yea, and you know its annoying because today's meant to be valentines day and I ruined it by dragging you into this along with me."

"Kenji, don't say that, you're dads way more important to me and so are you so don't you worry about that V word."

"Well just incase, I got this for you." He took something out of his pocket and handed her a small gift bag.

She opened it carefully and found herself staring at a shimmering bracelet that had two charms, both said K….Karina guessed that one stood for her name and the other was Kenji's. Then she read the label on the gift bag and it read 'to my valentine.' Karina felt herself turning red hard out as she slipped it on and just looked at it forgetting that Kenji was next to her. Kenji felt her silence and tried to start another conversation.

"Umm...well…do you like it?"

"Yea, yea, Yes..." Karina snapped out of her stupidity and nodded her head numerous times.

"It's really gorgeous." She took a deep breath before speaking again.

"Uhh..ok…cool."

"Well…thanks."

"No problem."

'Luckily the sky and the stars saved this conversation, I mean seriously, if it was just inside the house, then it'd be the most awkward silence I've ever had with Kenji.' Karina laughed with relief.

Karina looked at her watch, it was getting pretty late. She sat up after a few minutes and told Kenji that she was going now and that she was getting tired.

"Sweet dreams then." Kenji also sat up and planted a goodnight kiss on her lips almost giving her a fright.

"You too Kenji, Goodnight"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tohru opened her drawer and took out the Valentines day chocolates that she was going to give everyone once again, this year. This time she made sure that she had enough money for both herself and all the chocolates. She stepped out of her room and spotted Kyo on the roof, he came down once he saw her and she handed him the chocolates which he accepted even though he hated Valentines Day.

Then she gave it to Shigure who replied with an over-excited thank you before Kyo could chase him around the house. And last but not least was Yuki, come to think of it, Tohru didn't see him at all today. 'I wonder where he is? Normally he doesn't go out without telling one of us first…oh where is he?' she asked herself while walking around the whole house searching for him. After a while, she got tired and decided to ask Shigure and Kyo.

"I'm not so sure, I haven't seen him either."

"No idea, I don't give a damn where that darn rat is anyway, he can go off to Scotland if he knows what's best for him." Kyo scoffed.

Tohru started to panic.

"Maybe I'm just overreacting, Yuki's fine, he's just gone somewhere, I'm sure he'll come back soon." Tohru looked at the wrapped chocolate that she still held in the palm of her hand.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Hey, if you have time, please leave a review before you leave, thanks.


	6. Chapter 6: Renewal

**Chapter 6: Renewal**

The breeze lifted her hair as she sat on the porch outside of her room; the sunset was starting to take place with the moon rising behind the hills of the less populated Tokyo. It had taken a few years just to clean herself up after the mess that had almost cost her, her life. The alcoholism, the nightmares that she had been having, the drugs and most of all, her family. Where there was once happiness and joy that filled her, nothing was left after everyone in her family was being torn apart. Her daughter, her partner and her parents hated her for the mistakes she made. Although they were dead now, there was no evidence showing their forgiveness. Life was barely something to live for, she had lost everything and she never got them back. Now all she could do was sit inside her home with others that also went into depression, and wait…wait for hope that would save her from her dread. If there was one wish she would want granted, it would be to see her daughter once again, the appearance, her personality…

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yuki looked at his watch, it was 5pm, in one hour he needed to be home so he could attend the Sohma dinner at the main house. He held a box of chocolates and rang Karina's doorbell.

'Apart from the chocolates, I don't even know why I'm here…I feel so idiotic right now…after all, she's not even home.' He thought after nobody answered the door. He left the chocolates outside her door and left a note.

'Perhaps I should just get home...maybe the best way to avoid those two might be by making no eye contact…it will feel too weird now whenever I talk to Tohru or that stupid cat…'

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Tohru we will probably be back before midnight, don't forget to close the windows and lock the doors." Shigure called out to her as Hatori sat in the car waiting for the three of them.

"Ok, bye and be safe!" Tohru waved while Kyo, Yuki and Shigure sat inside the car and they drove off to the dinner that Akito was holding for everyone including the cat.

The only thing Yuki had said to her once he had gotten home was 'thank you' once she had given him the chocolates, she didn't want to ask him about where he had been since it felt like he didn't want to talk to anyone.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"About time you four got here." Akito snickered as he greeted them at the entrance with an unhappy glare.

"Sorry Akito." Hatori apologised as he entered the dining room with the others as they saw the rest of the juunishi seated formally at the table. They had all started to eat except Kyo, apparently Akito needed a word with him in private. He followed Akito into the living room while Akito spoke.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile Yuki had gotten up from the table to use the bathroom, on the way he heard Akito's voice and Kyo's as well, he decided to stop to hear what they had to say. His insides froze within the next few seconds.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I think your unworthy half-sister should meet your father, don't you think?" A cold smile hid behind his evil face.

"Don't call her unworthy, what did she do to you anyway." Kyo tried to defend her as much as possible without making Akito angry.

"I will call her whatever I want and I hate her just as much as I hate you, I mean after all, she does have you're blood and you're the cat so I have enough reason to despise her." He replied in his mighty voice as Kyo gritted his teeth trying not to lose his temper.

"Back to the point, it's time that you bring her in to meet her birth father."

"What? Why does she have to do that? I'm sure he doesn't want to see her anyway."

"Oh but he does, it will be a happy family reunion." He said coldly.

"Yea right, it's not like her mum's here, nor is mine and he is not my father, I don't have a birth father." Kyo started to raise his voice a little.

"You can't deny the truth, now bring her in tomorrow if you know what's good for you."

"What if I'm not available."

"Then I'll have to make my own ways of getting her here and keep in mind that I can do anything."

"Your choice, either bring her in yourself or face the other option now which do you pick?" Akito had things that really annoyed Kyo and one of them was his major threatening.

"How do you even know that she lives here?"

"Because I've paid her a visit before."

"What? When!" Kyo was now shouting.

"Oops, shouldn't have said that, now you know our deal and one more thing before you can eat, don't tell anyone about our little secret." He hissed as he exited the room leaving Kyo helpless.

'What am I going to do….oh I hate that Akito so badly, if I bring her in, what is he going to do and what will that rotten fake father of mine do!" Kyo stepped into the room of the juunishi's and god himself who shot him with a warning glance.

After the dinner, they went back to sitting in the car as Hatori drove them home. Shigure was singing songs to Hatori while he just inserted earplugs and Yuki and Kyo were lost in their thoughts, staying silent all the way. Kyo thinking about the possible results that Akito could come up with from preventing Kyo from telling anybody what had happened and Yuki was still trying to figure out what was going to happen to Karina after he overheard the conversation between Kyo and Akito.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Morning everyone." Karina came down the stairs from the guest room.

"Morning K.S." Kenji greeted her with the usual 'come out of nowhere and kisses her' greeting while calling her by her nickname K.S (short for Karina Sohma, in other words her initials)

At that time Risa came into the room and dropped her mug of tea as Karina and Kenji pulled away from the kiss and looked back at the broken fragments on the floor along with spilled tea and Risa's shocked face.

"Mum…are you okay?" Kenji ran to his mother while Karina got some equipment to clean the broken china pieces.

"You….you…two….what….were you…doing?" She stuttered.

Kenji started to blush madly; both he and Karina had forgotten to tell her about the…thing between them.

"We're…uhh….kinda….together…" Kenji turned his back on his mother and started to help Karina in order to hide his embarrassed expression.

"You two are ….d-d-d-dating?" She asked stumbling on the d word.

"Umm….sort of." Karina put the pieces into the rubbish bin.

"How did this hap-pen?"

"Oh would you look at the time, I'm late for the train and you know what happens if I miss it, thanks for letting me stay…buh-bye!" Karina grabbed her handbag and left the house feeling a bit guilty for leaving Kenji by himself to do all the explaining…but it was true, the train was due to leave in 10 minutes and if she missed it then she'd have to stay another night. After catching the train back to Tokyo, she decided to walk to her apartment instead of taking the cab since she wanted some exercise and some breakfast along the way. Her cell-phone then rang with Kyo's name on the receiver.

"Hey Kyo." She greeted him casually.

"Karina, where were you?" His voice was in panic.

"I was at Nagoya, I was attending a funeral yesterday…why?"

"Can you stay in Nagoya for the next few days?"

"What? Why do want me to do that?"

"It's a long story." He answered bluntly.

"Kyo what's going on?"

"I don't have time to explain but please just stay in Nagoya for a while."

"Kyo…I can't I'm back in Tokyo, I took the train an hour ago and I'm on my way back to my apartment." Karina pointed out.

"Damn it, why didn't you switch on your cell-phone earlier." He sounded stressed.

"It was on…I'm guessing there was no service." She assumed.

"That doesn't make sense…okay….umm….just whatever you do don't go home." Kyo warned.

"Uhh…you don't want me to go home…why?" Karina was finding this conversation a bit odd.

"Please just do me a favour, stop asking questions." Kyo sighed.

"Okay…so what do you want me to do?"

"Nice try." Karina turned around and found a man grabbing her by her wrist tightly. She soon recognized him as the murderous man who attacked her at her apartment the other day.

"Karina, are you there?" Kyo's voice called out to her.

The guy snatched the phone off Karina's hands and spoke into the speakers.

"You really think you can hide Karina from me forever…Kyo?" He said as Kyo shouted back.

"Let her go Akito!"

Karina stood there speechless although she was struggling to get away from the man known as Akito. She was wondering who he was but there was one clue, Kyo knew him which must've meant something pretty bad.

The next thing that happened was just too fast and too brief. Akito shut the phone which meant Kyo could no longer reach Karina.

"Nice cell-phone, too bad you'll be spending some time without it for a while." Akito grinned in a scary looking way and dragged Karina into a sleek black car. She tried to defend herself by kicking him in the 'you know what' but it didn't work since he blocked her kick.

"Help someone!" Karina tried to use all her remaining strength to scream but as soon as she tried again, Akito held a cloth to her nose as she breathed in the drug that seemed to be chloroform, she felt her world growing weaker and it was fading as she lost consciousness.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Kyo where are you going?" Tohru saw him grab his coat as he left for the door. He turned around at the sound of her voice and gave her a look of apology.

"Sorry Tohru, I got to go to the main house, I got to do something important."

"What's wrong Miss Honda?" Yuki walked into the room seeing her sad face.

"Kyo had to go somewhere…I think something's happened at the main house…he had to leave so he couldn't explain." She said quietly.

"Umm…I apologise but I have to go too." Yuki said after putting a hand on her shoulder, it definitely must of had something to do with the conversation last night.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kyo sprinted as fast as he could knowing that Shigure didn't have a car and that he himself couldn't drive yet. He then found the closest taxi and fished out a handful of coins when he reached his destination. He chucked it at the taxi driver and ran off speaking into the intercom at the Sohma main house.

"Yes, can I help you?"

"I need to get into the main house now, it's Kyo."

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I cannot let you in without permission from the master Akito. I am aware that you are the cat of the zodiac which is why you need a permit."

"God dammit, I don't care about a stupid permit." Kyo yelled just as Yuki appeared behind him.

"Excuse me, this is Yuki Sohma, can you please open the gates for me?"

"Oh hello young master Yuki, you may enter."

Kyo felt as if his head was about to burst after hearing this, the rat was able to go, but not the cat, the cat needed a frickin permit. Now he was mad except he had calmed down once Yuki let him into the building as well.

"How'd you get here so fast?"

"I took the train."

"Whatever."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Karina awoke, still dazed and clueless at the thought of being kidnapped and drugged unconscious. She found herself in a dull room, the walls were plain grey and the bed was just dead uncomfortable. Her head felt dizzy as she spotted Akito sitting at the other end of the room.

"Finally, you're awake."

"What did you do to me?" She asked hating every inch of him.

"You should be thanking me, after all you're going to be meeting someone special today, shouldn't you at least show a slight expression of happiness?"

"Not at all." Karina clenched her fists.

"Oh…whoops, did I mention that the particular person is you're birth father?"

Karina suddenly tensed up, her whole body felt like it was unable to move…she felt rock solid and there were butterflies in her stomach, except they seemed more like moths than butterflies.

"Yes, you're birth father is outside waiting for you."

"Y-y-your lying." Karina chose not to believe it since it was weird if she saw her father right now at this age after the series of events.

"Oh really? Go ask you're half brother yourself, maybe then you'll believe me."

"Fine I will. Once I see him." She had a strong spot inside of her that was often known as stubbornness.

"He's not here I'm afraid."

"The hell I'm not." Kyo's voice toppled over Akito's as he slammed the door open receiving a death-sentence glare from Akito. Behind him was Yuki who stayed silent.

"Speak of the cat." Akito insulted.

"So Kyo would you like to tell Karina about her 'father'?"

"Kyo…is it true?" Karina asked.

"So what if we are genetically connected, doesn't mean I have to call him father, neither do you Karina." Kyo obliged.

"But he is…my birth father right?"

"Yea…but…"

"I want to meet him." Karina interrupted.

"You want to what?" Kyo bit his lip.

"Karina, I'm not sure if you should..." Yuki mentioned.

"No…but I want to." She responded slowly.

"You see? I am doing her a favour." Akito smirked.

"But you…you were the guy that attacked me in my apartment!" She turned her attention towards Akito and stepped closer feeling the urge to punch him.

"What?" Kyo and Yuki said in unison.

"Ahh…you remember…that's good, at least you have some memory." Akito made a lame joke.

"You were the one who did this." She ripped the plaster off her forehead and showed him the scar.

"And what if I did?"

Karina couldn't stand it, she needed to practice her martial arts on someone, why not him. She raised her arm and aimed for a punch when Yuki stopped her.

"Karina...stop…I know what he did was wrong and…disturbing but…you can't punch him."

"Why not?" She rebelled.

"Because…Akito, he's the head of our family, he's god." Yuki spoke softly.

"Don't tell me you didn't know that." Kyo raised an eyebrow.

"No…I didn't…I truly didn't." Karina stopped her punch in mid-air.

"So you're saying that…the god, the bond thingy with the zodiac…he's the thing…like the core of the apple?" She used that as an example while Yuki trying not to laugh at the example she chose, nodded.

"Excuse me Akito, but how long is it till I see...my daughter…." Kyo's father entered the room and saw the only girl in the room was Karina which meant she had to his daughter.

"Is that….my father?" Karina looked at Kyo.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Just a note, Kyo's father really hates Kyo because he blames him for his mother's death and that will also happen in my story but the reason why he wants to meet Karina is because in my story, he is still quite mean and he only pretends to like her because he needs to use her to do something for him…so yea… thx for reading and please review!


	7. Chapter 7: Definition

A/N: Hey everyone, thank you so much for you're totally encouraging and great reviews! Very much appreciated!

Disclaimer: Reminder, I love Fruits Basket….just enough to own it but no, I do not own it because it already belongs to a very talented and lucky manga artist Natsuki Takaya!…so end of story.

**Chapter 7: Definition**

The major shock that left Risa Yoshida awkward, after Kenji's long explanation had just resulted in a more quiet atmosphere, it seemed like there was a barrier between Risa and her son…after all Karina seemed like her daughter even if she wasn't, so it was pretty strange having Kenji have a strong bond with Karina, well to Risa anyway. Kenji had admitted to his mother that he had a crush for Karina for quite a long time. The swift seconds that passed by every single day just made him think of memories…after the first time he spoke to Karina which was at the picnic tables outside the cafeteria, when he was defending her from a 'bully'. But the second time was the actual moment when sparks started to fly…especially the first time when Kenji sort of realised his secret admiration for his newest friend Karina.

_**Flashback**_

_It was during an arts lesson, one of Kenji's best subjects, they were painting self-designed sculptures made out of various materials. Mostly every girl in their year had joined it to catch a frequent glance at Kenji, and if they were brave enough, they would ask him for help…purposely just to get more attention…basically every single girl except Karina who had decided to ditch art and do athletics, a different subject that involved Kenji but less screaming girls. _

"_Hey Karina! What's up? Oh my god! You're not doing Art? How could you? Kenji's doing it! Don't you know that?" One of the girly chicks came up to Karina and took a glimpse at her school timetable while gasping._

"_I know..." She replied in a boring voice. "He is my best friend; don't you think I've got the basic idea of what he's doing this semester?" _

"_But seriously, don't you just want to gaze at him for the whole lesson?"_

"_Uhh…no…why would I do that?" Karina looked at her with a weird expression while Kenji who just managed to pass the corner just decided to listen to their conversation. He had his back to them and he was behind a locker so they couldn't see them._

"_What's wrong with you? He's the most popular guy in the school, he's hot and what's more, he's good at art!" The girl exclaimed while dozing into her own fantasy and left Karina looking at her watch, obviously hating this conversation._

"_I know he's really cute and handsome but you girls just think about looks and reputation, well don't you think about other things like…for example he's my best friend.."_

"_Lucky you." She muttered._

"_And…he has a great sense of humour, he can read my mind and he's really considerate…to tell the truth, I didn't even focus on his good looks when I first met him and that was when he helped me out with that freak guy who steals lunch." Karina continued._

"_Uhh…whatever, I don't understand, how could you not notice his face? And how did a girl like you end up with a guy like him? I mean, we're perfect for each other, the two of us, Kenji and me, we both have great hair, great looks, great style, and we do art together!" _

"_In your dreams." With a look of sarcasm Karina started to walk off until the girl called her name back._

"_So do you think you can score a date 'for me with Kenji'?" She asked in a fake sweet voice that just made Karina even more irritated._

"_Kenji is a completely different person once you get to know him…in a good way of course, and you can't force love on people because it just comes naturally. Whether he wants to date you or not is his choice, but I'm not gonna stand here and do all the dirty work for you, so you can kiss your luck goodbye unless he likes you back but for now, sayonara." Karina didn't turn around, instead she just flicked her hand as a wave and walked off._

'_Pathetic.' Karina thought, she knew those girls were true 'nasty bitches' but not only that but they pretended to like Karina just because she was the only friend girl of Kenji's. They were using her to get closer to Kenji by simply acting, being stupid plus a whole load of lies that showed how desperate but annoying they were. To Karina, she only had a few friend girls that weren't so obsessed with Kenji but only a few._

_Meanwhile Kenji was deeply moved by this… 'conversation/speech.' By Karina's words, she meant that she didn't like him just because of his looks and his 'fame' around the school, but because of his personality and qualities…maybe additional appearances but what was important was that looks didn't matter too much for Karina…unlike the nutcase-heads that roamed the school and stared at him 24/7, sometimes freaking him out whenever the super-obsessed people stalked him and followed him around watching his every move. But it was great to know that he had a true friend, it made him really happy, the first person to like him a lot without judging the outside first. He felt special and he wanted to treat Karina the same way to show his major appreciation._

_**End of Flashback**_

Their relationship just started like a flower, you know, love just slowly blossomed from a tiny seed, they had their troubles and the flower was struggling through change of season but now they were quite happy, or at least Kenji thought so, the flower bloomed for the first time. Little did he know difficult things were on their way to greet him, another word was 'challenges and competition'.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tohru wiped the rain drops off her face as the weather started to pour heavily, the clouds were turning grey and it was getting pretty windy. She held her umbrella above her head and used her spare hand to press the button on the intercom outside the Sohma residence/main house.

"It's Tohru Honda, I'd like to speak to Kyo if he's in there please."

"I'm sorry but outsiders need a known identification or permission from the master Akito himself, do you have a reason to speak to Kyo?" The lady asked.

"Uhh… I just wanted to know if they were okay…I mean…umm…"

"I'm afraid he's not available at the moment, come back another time. Goodbye."

"Wait!" Tohru called out as the intercom left a beep.

'Oh no…what am I gonna do? Kyo sounded really troubled, I hope he's okay…but…no…I should try the secret entrance that Momiji's sister Momo showed me…I know it's bad, but I'm really anxious." Tohru thought as she walked towards the unknown doorway.

She slipped through the gap and bent down behind the bushes and made her way around the Sohma estate looking for a sign of either Kyo or Yuki.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well isn't this interesting…Karina, meet your father." Akito broke the silence and walked out of the room.

"Karina, we should go now, there's nothing to talk about with this person." Kyo grabbed her hand and tried to pull her out of the room.

"So you're here too? I never invited you, get out! You're not welcome here!" The man yelled out with hatred.

'Huh? Why are they acting like that towards each other?" Karina thought as Yuki stood on the other side of her in silence. Although she kind of had an impression that this man known as her father was not what she thought he would turn out like. She sensed something that wasn't good coming from his direction.

"Why did you cheat on your wife? Why did you even think of having an affair with my mother?" Karina interrupted the two of them.

"K-K-Karina, is that you're name?" Her father asked.

"Yes, you haven't even bothered to remember my name?"

"Of course I remember you're name.." He stuttered surprised at the frown that appeared on Karina's face as she answered.

"If you wanted to abandon your own daughter than maybe you shouldn't even have considered liking my mother."

"Let me explain, it's difficult, I had no idea Nara was going to have a child."

"Oh Nara is that her name? Well then why are you treating Kyo like a trash bag, and you know that he is you're son!"

"Just because he was born into this world in my family, doesn't mean I like him."

"Why not?"

"Because he's a murde-" Kyo whacked his hand on his father's mouth to stop him from talking.

"Karina, I really think the cat has a point somehow, maybe we should leave." Yuki convinced her as he led her out of the room, she wanted to get to know her father more but in a way, she already hated him.

"Trust me you do not want to talk to that rotten person ever again." Kyo stated as he walked out of the room clenching his fists and gritting his teeth together.

"He…he's not very fatherly like…no offence."

"Offend him however you like, I really don't care about that stupid man." Kyo replied but stopped as soon as he saw Tohru.

"Tohru? What are you doing here?" He questioned.

"Kyo! I was so worried, I thought something bad had happened to you, since you and Yuki left so fast…and…Karina? You're here…?" She said just as she reached Kyo and held onto his hand causing a blush on his face.

"I just met my father." Karina explained.

"You mean…Kyo's father?"

"Yea…but he…he doesn't like me…I can tell and umm…yea."

"Leaving so soon?" A strong but powerful voice caused heads turning. Akito was standing there at the gateway glaring at them.

"I have no intention in staying here anyway." Kyo kept Tohru's hand linked to his and tried to walk past Akito.

"What are you doing here?" He stopped Tohru and slapped her hard on the cheek as Kyo, Karina and Yuki ran to her side.

"I never invited you to my home, nor did I invite Yuki or Kyo, but you…you're never allowed in the Sohma main house unless I ask you to come, how dare you violate my rules and simply come in here, how did you get through the gate anyway?" Akito asked a question that only Tohru & Momo knew about. But she couldn't reveal the secret, because if she did then Momo wouldn't be able to see her brother Momiji anymore even if it was just watching him play the violin.

"The entrance was open so I let myself in." Tohru lied.

"You fool, you think I'm stupid enough to believe that I don't have enough security in my home." Akito hit her on the other side, Tohru was now looking down, close to tears, Akito hit pretty hard, it was painful, indeed it was but she couldn't let them know about the secret way.

"Akito, she's telling the truth, really she is." Yuki spoke up.

"You…shut up! If I ever see a lock of you're hair in this estate, I'll make sure you'll regret ever having set foot on this land." Akito threatened.

"Yes, I'm sorry, I won't do it again, I promise." Tohru kept her head down.

"You better! I was so considerate to let you meet you're father Karina and this is how you treat me, well fine, you're no part of the Sohma family, just because you have a last name that matches ours and just because you know about the curse, even with the excuse of being the cat's half sister, you don't belong here, and Tohru, you're even worse, I despise the cat as much as I despise you, you fell in love with the cat, ha, how strange, now get out all of you!" Akito pushed them out onto the road and shut the gate behind him.

Kyo was a bit dumbfounded about what Akito had said about Tohru falling in love with him…of course he knew he had already fallen in love with her, but he couldn't tell her that. But he wondered, was it true that she really liked him? 'Probably not, after all, she has much bigger things to worry about than about us…or our relationship.' Kyo took a deep breath and looked at Tohru's cheek, apart from it being red, it looked better now…but still she was hurt…and so was Karina…Akito was so evil and Kyo hated him…even more than the rat himself.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey Tohru, how's you're uhh…cheek?" Kyo entered the living room while passing her an ice pack.

"Better, thank you." Tohru put on a smile that warmed Kyo's heart, she kindly took the ice pack from Kyo's hands and placed it against her cheek.

"Teenagers in love, maybe I should do that as a plot for my next novel." Shigure laughed hysterically as he sat down on the couch between Tohru and Kyo.

"Shut up." Kyo hissed.

"Aww…are you really that shy to talk about you're love for Tohru, I mean everyone knows you're little secret, you know how you scribble Tohru's name next to a bunch of love hearts on a piece of paper while watching T.V?" Shigure grinned.

"Hey I said, shut it you perverted old man!" Kyo sent Shigure flying outside the door.

Tohru went red when Shigure talked about the love hearts, she wasn't sure if it was true or not but if it was, then how adorable!

"Umm…so what would you like to have for dinner tomorrow night?"

"Anything…but leeks or miso." Kyo gave her a friendly smirk as he left the room.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That night Karina chose to stay somewhere other than her own apartment, she was starting to get freaked about Akito showing up again and simply kidnapping her out of nowhere or else messing her room up while trying to injure her. She stayed at the local hotel and drank her hot chocolate as she watched the stars on the deck outside her suite on level 8. She was taking the time to appreciate stargazing now after her experience with Kenji outside of his home. Maybe; like what he said, she was staring at the sky above her in Tokyo while he, at the same time did the same in Nagoya. Luckily she had managed to find her cell phone, it started to ring, she expected someone like Kenji or Kyo to call her, but it was Yuki.

"Hi Yuki, everything okay?" Was her instant question since this was the first time that Yuki had actually called her on her cell-phone.

"Actually I was going to ask you the same thing…I mean after today, are you alright?"

"I guess…well one things for sure, I'm staying at a hotel tonight, I mean I'm scared of staying in my own apartment nowadays after Akito attacked…and kidnapped me…I don't think its safe for me there."

"I really apologise, I never expected him to force you to meet you're father."

"I didn't either…but do you know why my…uhh dad hates Kyo so much?"

"Well, let's just say he blames him for his mother's death…which in my opinion is quite inappropriate but I'm not too sure." Yuki explained.

"That is so mean, it's not even funny, I really don't want to meet my father anymore now…he just seems so selfish and…and…heartless and to tell the truth, I'm kind of happy that I was adopted…in a way."

"You have every right to say that, I'm sure you're adoptive mother would've appreciated and took care of you way better than that person." Yuki agreed.

"Well thanks for you're support."

"No problem…uhh…well just for a change, would you like to umm…perhaps come with me to the winter festival tomorrow that their holding in town?"

"And ice-skating?"

"…Ice skating? I uhh can't ice skate…." Yuki said nervously.

"Oh well, I'll teach ya."

"Ok….umm…sure but don't expect me to be a professional."

"I won't, trust me…..well….ok, great, I'll see you tomorrow then at the Winter festival, thanks!" Karina exclaimed.

"Your welcome, Goodnight."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yuki stared out of his open window, writing in his notebook and happy that he had achieved at asking Karina out…however he didn't exactly mention to her that it was going to be a date…without being mean he kind of hoped that Karina wasn't actually dating that boy he saw at her apartment….Kenji, simply because he wanted to try his luck with Karina…she seemed to like him…but he wasn't too sure, it was just her ways of laughing that always made him have a fun time. He didn't know how it happened, it was just natural…like she started out as just a new girl and a good friend…but now that they all grew closer…she seemed more than that, Yuki started to notice things about her that he didn't notice before. It was hard to explain and he didn't want to define it or clarify it as love just yet…incase, since he was still caught in the net of Tohru and Kyo, but he wanted to get free from everything, learn to love another…..

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Once again, thanks for reading! And without you're help/reviews I would never of continued this story, so thanks for you're effort in reviewing, please continue! I would love to hear what you think of it so far! Bye!


	8. Chapter 8: Fragility

A/N: Thanks, the reviews were wonderful everyone! Now this chapter is gonna switch from Kyo and Tohru to Yuki and Karina continuously, just a little bit of fluff…but this isn't what you would call a very dramatic or sad chapter…but the happiness won't last too long cos you know, I gotta have some downs in this story as well…but yea enjoy the luvey duvey moments while it lasts…so yea, that's the brief outline, enjoy!

**Chapter 8: Fragility**

Ribbons and Kites flew everywhere in the sky as the celebration of the Winter Festival took place in the heart of the city in Tokyo. Face painting booths, free food tasting counters and many shops opened to attract nearby customers and fellow shoppers. Performers and entertainers were practicing for their shows and the day and night parade, the day being bright and colourful while the night parade was going to be full of light up carousels and visual themes. Fortunately the weather was great and hundreds of people roamed the streets in preparation for the grand opening which was due to start in a few minutes. It wasn't snowing too heavily, just light snowflakes often appeared here and there but the air was still very cold.

Yuki slipped on his jacket and arrived there early waiting for Karina as she came in time looking flustered but quite noticeable in what she was wearing which was basically all black with some bits of blue and occasional white, but anyone could tell her apart from the crowd.

"Hey Yuki…am I late?"

"No, you're just on time, umm…you love black." He commented.

"I know, I'm not much of what you call a girly girl who dresses in too much pink, funny thing is, I love jewellery!" She exclaimed as she showed him her numerous bracelets.

"Oh well, I think it's nice… what you're wearing…"

"Uhh…thanks."

They had gotten through the town, stopping every few shops, getting things to eat and drinking iced tea even though it was freezing. Karina finally convinced Yuki to actually ice-skate as she pulled him inside of the ice-skating rink after paying the money. It had taken a while for Yuki just to get his skates on. As soon as Yuki got onto the ice, he slipped and fell causing an embarrassed moment for him as Karina helped him up, laughing at the same time.

"I'm really bad at this already." Yuki stated.

"Nah, you'll get used to it don't worry." Karina gave him an encouraging grin and held his hand as she taught him how to skate.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tohru took the clothes and clipped it onto the washing line when she heard footsteps coming behind her. She turned her head and greeted Kyo.

"Have you seen Yuki today?" She asked.

"That damn rat went off to the festival with Karina." Kyo started to help her which didn't happen very often, especially with the washing. Sure he could cook (better than Yuki since he had a habit of burning things) and he could mend things that were broken but helping her with the washing was something that you wouldn't see in everyday life.

"Umm…thank you Kyo for your help." Tohru carried the washing basket back into the house.

"It's nothing." He shrugged it off.

"Actually…I was thinking if…we could go do something today…if you're not busy that is…"

"Well no, what do you want to do?"

"Uhh…can we go to the umm…park?" She asked while shuffling her feet on the ground.

"The park?" He repeated.

"We can get some crepes, or ice-cream…have a picnic….I made some food….and we can walk around and look around and uhh…"

"Yea alright, just don't make it something like the playground or whatever."

"Ok." Tohru smiled.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kenji lied in bed, still wide awake but physically tired. He turned on his T.V in his bedroom and flicked through the channels, there was nothing on so he kept flicking. Something then caught his eye as he sat up and instantly became energetic and forgot about how tired he was before as he stepped closer to the TV.

"Karina?"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"See? That wasn't so hard." Karina slapped Yuki on the back and congratulated him. After a few slips and falls and crashes, it turned out better than expected.

"Haha, no it wasn't…umm, how's your back?" Yuki asked a bit concerned.

_**Flashback: half an hour ago**_

"_Come on Yuki, you're doing great, you're a really fast learner."_

"_Really? Thanks…" He increased his speed._

_Yuki was able to skate faster with his hand in Karina's, at least that was until he lost control and fell backwards taking Karina along with him, their backs hitting the hard and cold ice. Yuki would've expected Karina to be slightly angry at him but she wasn't, she admitted it was a little painful but she was still cracking up and laughing her head off at Yuki's silly-ness and his carefree actions._

_**End of Flashback**_

"Not too bad." Karina replied.

"I'm really sorry about that." Yuki apologised as Karina just raised an eyebrow and gave a casual reply of "I'm fine."

Soon after, somebody shoved a camera in front of their face and grabbed onto both their hands, making them stand up.

"Congratulations, you have been chosen as couple of the week!" A man who looked like a reporter of some kind shook Karina and Yuki's hand and pressed the record button on the video camera as the woman beside him snapped a picture.

"Couple of the what?" Karina blinked from the flash.

"Couple of the week, you two lucky lovers will receive an award and some cash plus what's better, you are now broadcasted onto live T.V, and I must say, choosing an ice-skating rink for a date is some-what excellent! So how does it feel to be the star of the week" He continued to ramble as Yuki tried to get everything into his head.

"Uhh…I think your misunderstanding something…"

"Here's a ticket, write your names on it and you can go into the draw to win $2000 worth of beauty products for you and perhaps a car for this young man." The lady with the camera or the photographer interrupted Karina and handed her a piece of paper.

"Umm…"

"Come on, go ahead." The man persuaded.

"Okay…" Yuki wrote their names down.

"Thank you, everybody, meet the cutest couple of the week, Yuki and Karina Sohma, aww their even married with the same surnames and at such a young age."

"WHAT!" Karina and Yuki shouted.

"Here's a video of their favourite moments today at the ice-skating rink on the very day of the Winter Festival, check it out." The lady did something like a replay as Karina spotted the time when they both received sore backs. This video was going to be viewed by everyone in Japan.

"Wait, you don't understand, we're not a coup-"

"Thank you for watching everyone and stay tuned for next week's winner, sayonara, au revoir, adios and good afternoon." They finished after shaking Karina and Yuki's hand, giving them a cheque and a bunch of flowers, took a picture once more before leaving and scurrying out the door.

"No way, I can't believe that happened, it was just so fast." Karina bit her bottom lip.

"They told the whole of Japan that….we were married…because of our last names…" Yuki added.

"My god, their so…argh…annoying!" Karina had always been kind of annoyed at her constant thought of surname change, whether it be Sohma, Yoshida or Hiroshi.

"We have to get that video back." Yuki insisted.

"But they've already showed it to the whole country who happen to be watching on this channel…oh shoot, I think I'm gonna kill them." Karina practiced her punch in mid-air and accidentally hit Yuki.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry."

"And just look at that! Anyone and I mean anyone could tell that their madly in love." The reporters voice came back as they looked up to find them standing on the second level filming them yet again.

Frustrated and angry, Karina resisted the urge to swear at them as she grabbed Yuki and made a narrow exit to find privacy. His nose was bleeding, Karina never knew she could hit that hard, boy she must have hated those reporters so much, that it was enough to cause a mild nose-bleed.

"Are you okay? Darn it, I'm such an idiot." Karina handed Yuki a pack of tissues.

Yuki just answered by laughing, covering his nose at the same time.

"That…was really funny…and I'm alright…no harm done but I have to say, nice punch."

"You're…you're laughing…?" Karina gave a pitiful smile.

"You know, I think you might be able to beat that stupid cat one day if you keep training hard like this, just imagine him as a reporter and I'm sure you'll win." Yuki kept laughing.

"Oh Yuki, why would I wanna fight with my own half-brother? I love him to bits, family wise, haha but sure if it's just for fun, I'll try it out as long as I don't cause another bleeding nose." Karina joined in with the laughing soon figuring out that Yuki was really okay after all.

"I think we should get out of this place first, I mean if they catch us laughing then we'll seriously be out of our luck today."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Tohru, I think you ought to see this!" Shigure called out to them just as they were about to leave the house to the park.

Tohru walked into the living room, staring at the TV screen as Kyo came in as well, they sweat dropped, not only at Shigure laughing hysterically but at what they were watching….cutest couple of the week? Yea ok, now goes the world's sanity, especially having his half-sister and his rivalry as the winners.

"Oh no, you've gotta be kidding me, Karina punched the damn rat….and yet I can't do it?" Kyo shook his head when the video finished.

"I never knew they were dating or married." Tohru said.

"Uhh, Tohru, it's because their not, the stupid reporter is making stupid lies, isn't it obvious?" Kyo couldn't help but laugh at Tohru's stupidity, but he had to admit, it was cute stupidity.

"Whoops…haha…uhh…yea…ok…"

"Come on, you wanted to go out right? We'll let's get a move on."

A few minutes passed and they arrived in the park, Kyo went buy crepes while Tohru showed her admiration for the park's scenery. The place was so clean, no litter, no doggie poo, just a peaceful chunk of land with growth of fauna and flora all over the place. Tohru chose a spot under the humongous willow tree that grew beside the lake and which shaded the area from the sunshine, the day was cold but still sun light appeared behind the clouds. It wasn't snowing in this suburb, more often in the city, school and outside of Shigure's home. She laid the mat over the grass and arranged the food out of her picnic basket. She had brought all sorts of things that Kyo liked, some home-made onigiri, sushi, etc with this mini fruit-cake that she had bought for dessert especially for today.

"Woah, you brought heaps." Kyo came back with the two crepes in his hand.

"Yes, I hope you will like it." Tohru gestured towards him to sit down.

The food was finished fast since Kyo was hungry, Tohru dug into her bag and fished out a kite.

"Kyo, would you like to help me fly a kite?"

"A kite is for kids." Kyo replied rudely, seeing Tohru's hidden but hurt face, he sighed and gave into her suggestion knowing that it would only make him happy by seeing her smile.

Soon after the kite took flight, it got stuck in the willow tree, Kyo (the cat) chose to climb up the tree to try and reach it. Although he struggled, he finally managed to get to the kite as he threw it to Tohru. Being the klutz that she was, Tohru ran for the falling kite, slipped and was going to fall into the lake, making Kyo alarmed, (as he wanted to save her) stretched out his hand and tried to pull her back even if he was still on the tree. Tohru grabbed onto his hand but only making the situation worse by pulling him off the tree resulting in both of them getting wet (good thing he didn't transform). The sound effects of the splash made people stop their actions subsequently as silence fell on the pleasant park.

Kyo and Tohru rose out of the water and crawled onto the bank, dripping with cold lake water. Tohru's mouth opened to a million apologies while Kyo just put a finger on her lips and shushed her as she realised the people staring at them awkwardly.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Thanks for a really fun and amusing day Yuki." Karina giggled as she took out the cheque from her pocket that was give to her by the reporters and held it in front of Yuki while carrying the flowers in her other hand.

"You're welcome, I'm glad I learnt how to ice-skate even though I went through all that trouble…umm keep it." He replied just as he saw the cheque of $570.00

"But… without you, I never would've got couple of the week…so… haha…you can have it." Karina insisted.

"No it's okay, besides, you have to pay the bill for renting you're apartment, while I can rely on Shigure for the meantime, so it'd be more logical if you kept the money."

"Okay….Well…then I'll see you around sometime again in the holidays."

"I guess, goodbye then and just for you're information this is the most fun I've had for a few years so thank you." Yuki stepped closer and gave her a hug.

"Sure…uhh….no problem, see ya." Karina closed her door as Yuki made his way home.

Those reporters really bugged me today, but then again when I really think about, I wouldn't have had so much fun without them stalking me and Karina, and I'm glad that she persuaded me to go ice-skating because everything just made it worthwhile, the numerous times I fell, the equal numerous times that she helped me up back onto my skates, I should do this more often…if only the curse didn't exist…but somehow, when I'm around her, things change, my curse doesn't take effect on her so it just seems as if I'm a normal person just enjoying life as it is. It makes me feel free, with one less major thing to worry about. Maybe, could it really be….love? Who knows….

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Geez, we really know how to draw attention to ourselves huh?" Kyo commented as they went home and dried their hair and face with a towel. Apart from making a big fool in front of the crowd, Kyo was really happy, he got to spend a lot of time with his one and only Tohru and her klutz ways were just so funny, it was something that you could imagine out of a comic.

"Yes…but I'm very sorry once again, I don't know why I pulled you into the water as well." Tohru kept her apologies repetitive.

"Doesn't matter, I mean if you're gonna be embarrassed, might as well get embarrassed together right?" Kyo looked into Tohru's unique blue eyes as the thing such as the 'lovers gaze' took place right inside the bathroom.

"Ahh…umm…well…thank you for coming along with me to the park today." Tohru snapped back into reality and stepped back while stuttering words of thanks.

"Just make sure that you find a kite that won't be so easily stuck next time will you?" Kyo asked.

"Of course." Tohru gave a goofy grin and walked out of the bathroom, her cheeks on fire.

Kyo's getting nicer and kinder every day now, and I feel that he has made a wonderful change. I see him laughing, smiling and joining in activities more often these days and I'm so happy to see him this joyful. I really hope this will continue, it just feels like he has decided to put his problems behind him which is something I really admire.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Is it really true, that someone can fall in love this easily and this fast? Is it true that my beloved Karina never actually fell for me? Is it true that this Yuki person is more than just an everyday friend? Is it true that my questions will be left unanswered? I suppose Karina knows I care about her a lot now…but I still haven't mentioned nor said the big thing to her yet, such words that spell…I Love you…

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AN: Many thanks to my supportive reviewers and readers ( I know, I keep saying this), but keep in mind that you guys/girls ROCK!


	9. Chapter 9: Scar

**A/N:** I've got some replies for my fellow reviews:  
**Fanfiction**  
saphirz world: Why thank you Mel!  
Mischievous Angel: yup…I enjoyed writing the kawaii fluff lol  
Daelaeyni: Yes, you were right, there may be a possible love triangle  
mysticwaterfall: my first romance…not too bad right? But thanks for ur review, glad ya find it interesting.  
KittyMojo: Don't blame ya, to tell the truth, I dislike Akito quite a lot too…thanks for reviewing

**Mediaminer**

silverwolf- hehe, yes it was cute! you're reviews are great! Thank you!  
ren-hatake- happy to hear you're opinion. Much appreciated   
2SEXY4U- yup I hear ya, I'm updating lol…and yes Kyo's dad is super mean, kinda feel sorry for kyo myself but anyways thx 4 da review.

Sorry for the wait! Mean old Exams…GRRR ...oh well at least camp was great! And because of the delay I've decided to make this chapter extra long. So thanks for being patient with me. Let me repeat my frequent words: You guys/girls ROCK! Right…so this chaps gonna have a little action…tiny moments of fluff and some….evilness haha, I was just sitting in bed one day and this idea just popped into my head …so yea…read onwards and hope you like it!

**Chapter 9: Scar**

The night went on slowly, Yuki wasn't home yet after the Winter festival. Shigure was at Ayame's place for a short visit leaving the house to Kyo and Tohru themselves. Kyo had said goodnight to Tohru and had also crashed into his mattress while reading. Tohru on the other hand was in the bathroom brushing her teeth and untying her hair as she got ready for a good night's sleep. After the entire hazardous but memorable fun picnic, she had to struggle with taking leaves out of her previous knotty hair caused by the wind and the water. She entered her room, tucked herself in the warm blankets; she was nearly asleep until she smelt a strange scent in her bedroom.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kyo stopped his daydreaming and felt his mouth dry, he was thirsty. He complained to himself as he made his way to the kitchen fridge door, going down the stairs and passing the lounge along the way. Kyo poured himself a glass of cold milk and sat down on the sofa, he gazed outside and thought he saw a figure or a person running past but ignored his conscience and forgot about it quickly, thinking it was no big deal…that was until he heard a scream…coming from Tohru's bedroom upstairs.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tohru got off her bed and looked around, she was surrounded by fire…one half was in fumes and the other was not. Tohru tried reaching for the window but it wouldn't budge, then she thought of Kyo…he was still in the house and if he wasn't warned then…then…no she couldn't leave him. Tohru ran back but burned her leg along the way causing her to scream in pain, it hurt but she had to carry on. She reached for the door but dropped and fell when she felt extreme loss of oxygen.

The flames were starting to get hotter and were spreading quite fast, she was struggling to keep alive when she heard Kyo's voice yell out her name. He opened the door and saw Tohru on the floor. Kyo quickly got a thick bed sheet and held it then lifted her up (so there is something other than clothes between his arms and her body which means he won't transform that easily), his face full of shock as another flame started behind him.

Now he couldn't get through the door, the only option was the window on the far end of the room. He placed Tohru onto the bed and took the study chair and threw it at the window causing it to break and shatter to pieces. He did this on purpose to get more air into the room as he too felt some oxygen loss.

Kyo got the bed sheet once more and carried Tohru over his shoulder and ran past the fire and made a narrow exit to a careful climb onto the tree outside of Tohru's bedroom window. Somehow he felt that the fire was rather deliberate than accidental, although Tohru was clumsy, there was nothing in her room that could've caused a fire apart from a heater, but it was off because tonight wasn't too cold even though it was winter.

Kyo could hear things crashing behind him as the fire began to eat everything in its way. He slowly staggered to his feet the branch broke in half making him fall, he felt a sharp pain on his arm and he cried out in annoyance, it seemed he had just about broken his arm. Tohru landed beside him and she was knocked awake by the ground but still weak.

"Kyo?" She murmured.

"Yea….Tohru…" Kyo breathed in and out while checking up on her ignoring his arm.

"You saved me….but you're …hurt." She stuttered.

"I'm okay, what about you?" Kyo asked as he saw the light of the fire engines and the ambulance parked outside of his house and the sight of Shigure's horrified expression but still no sign of the damn rat.

"It's alright…I'm ….fine…"

"Come on…we have to get over there…to let them know that we're alive." Kyo had to carry her with his other arm this time since one of them was injured badly.

As soon as they spotted him, Shigure quickly took Tohru and Kyo to the ambulance as they were taken away to the hospital with Shigure sitting inside, his face full of relief.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_**Half an hour ago**_

Yuki Sohma was on his way home when his head flooded with thoughts of today's reflections, the reporters and all the humour. He laughed to himself until he felt a hand touch his shoulder. He turned around and faced a woman in her forties staring back at him. Her hair was a caramel colour, kind of a cross between gold and a light brown. Her eyes were chestnut coloured and she looked familiar.

"Excuse me…are you Yuki Sohma?" The woman asked.

"Uhh…yes…do I know you?" He replied.

"I'm not sure if you do…but you know my daughter….Karina Sohma…" She spoke sending an uncomfortable feeling in Yuki's stomach.

"You're….you're daughter?" He shook his head in disbelief.

"Yes…my name is Nara Horikawa…I believe you have met and befriended my daughter Karina…"

"Yes…I have."

"May I please speak to you?" Nara asked.

"Oh…ok…does Karina know you're here."

"No."

A few minutes later, Yuki had ended up in a café with Karina's biological mother instead of going home.

"So what…what happened…may I ask?" Yuki started the conversation while sipping tea.

"Long story…After my lover left me…who I presume must be Karina's father, well I had no strength to bear Karina on my own…He told me to have an abortion, but I disagreed and when he finally told me that he already had a wife and son of his own…I felt…angry and rejected and also…deprived. I gave Karina away and went through a lot of depression, drugs and misunderstandings when finally I enrolled myself into a psychiatric hospital…and it's been about 14 years since that happened, since I went…strange…I think…Karina must be 16 now, am I right?"

"Yes…but how did you know or recognise me?" Yuki was interested to know.

"Well…believe it or not, when I was released from the hospital, I bumped into Karina's father and…he told me about you, although I can see the hatred in his eyes…or rather, he said he no longer had a family, I didn't quite understand what he meant…but it's true and I thought maybe if I found you, then…I would be able to reunite with my long lost daughter." She explained.

"Oh…this does make sense to me now." Yuki answered.

"All I want to know now…is….is she doing okay? Is she healthy? What does she look like?" Nara questioned.

"Uhh…she's doing very well. I'm sure her academic results are great, she's in wonderful condition and I went to the Winter Festival with her today, umm…she has the same coloured hair as you and she's very…uhh…she's a great person with a nice personality."

"Is she beautiful? I always imagined her to be." Nara smiled.

"As a matter of fact…yes…..I guess so." Yuki blushed happy that Karina was not here.

"Well…where does she live, can I see her?"

"Well…maybe, I uhh… suppose I better talk to her first…or something." Yuki replied.

"Excuse me." Yuki interrupted her next question as he picked up his cell-phone.

Shigure told him about the accident, the fire and Kyo and Tohru in hospital. Yuki was forced to leave Nara and promised her that he would contact her about Karina another time as he took a cab to the hospital.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I only left for a few hours and look what that stupid cat did." Yuki threw a bunch of words at Shigure instead of a casual 'hello' or 'how are they doing.'

"Oh Yuki, it wasn't Kyo's fault, well I don't think it was anyway, apparently the fire started in Tohru's bedroom, oh its terrible…my beautiful house…now needed for renovation, even worse than you and Kyo's constant fighting…ahh, this is so sad." Shigure put on his 'pitiful' acts as Yuki sighed and headed off ignoring Shigure.

"Hello Miss Honda, how are you doing?" He opened the door and sat on the chair next to Tohru's bed after noticing Kyo's broken arm and irritated face.

"I'm fine thank you Yuki, Kyo saved my life…I'm very happy and lucky to be alive, how was the Winter festival with Karina?"

"Yea, care to explain about couple of the week?" Kyo snorted ignoring the urge to laugh.

"That…was…a mistake, those darn reporters…don't know what their talking about…Umm…the Winter festival was great, we went ice-skating and we bought a lot of items at the stores." Yuki continued to answer Tohru's question after gritting his teeth at Kyo.

"We saw how bad you are at ice-skating, ha, finally something the damn rat can't do." Kyo smirked.

"Will you just shut up or I won't be Mr nice guy and beat you up whilst you have a broken arm, who knows, it might just make the job easier." Yuki shot back at him.

"Damn Rat!"

"You stupid cat!"

"Now, now boys, leave each other alone, I'm sure you want to have you're friendly bonding right now but I think it's a bit inappropriate, especially with Tohru in the room plus the fact that everyone had just survived a fire, why don't you go outside now Yuki, the nurses need to take a good check up on these two." Shigure came into the room with a serious looking nurse behind him.

"Fine, get well soon Miss Honda." Yuki smiled at Tohru before exiting the room.

"Since they are staying overnight at the hospital tonight, oh lucky Kyo, he gets Tohru all to himself…how selfish."

"Shut up and get on with it." Yuki threatened.

"Oh Yuki, no need for harsh words, all I'm saying is that we will have to stay at a hotel for a few weeks until we manage to clean up the mess and reconstruct Tohru's bedroom. Or we could ask Akito if we could stay at the main house temporarily…."

"The hotels fine, just stick with that idea." Yuki hated the thought of going back to the main house and for a few weeks as well, Yuki wanted to avoid that for as long as he could.

"But…we have to pay…"

"I don't care; the hotel is closer so just book a few rooms hurry up." Yuki urged as they left the hospital.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Karina rummaged through the contents in her cupboard, she was thinking of baking a cake for Kenji since his birthday was coming up soon but sadly there was neither sugar nor cocoa.

"So that's it huh?" Karina winced at her cupboard and shut it, rolling her eyes and getting fed up from her laziness of supermarket shopping. She wasn't the best cook; she could only do with easy food. Karina finally decided she would make a stop to the cake shop as it was closing very soon since it was getting late. She locked her apartment door and set down the streets for the nearest spot, she knew chocolate coated banana sponge cake was always Kenji's favourite, but it was just something that would've been added to her 'things I cannot cook' list.

She opened the door of the cake shop and started to browse through all the varieties and flavours when she finally came across the perfect cake.

"I'd like to have a chocolate coated banana spo…" Karina paused as soon as she looked up. The boy shop assistant was no ordinary guy, it was Kenji…but it didn't make sense…he didn't live here in Tokyo.

"Kenji…what are you doing here?" She asked.

"I'm just…working here." Kenji started to collect the cake without saying anything else.

"Wait…I don't need it anymore…." Karina stopped him.

"Ok." Kenji began to close the curtains and he took off his apron. Somehow it felt like he was avoiding her…this was not the average same guy that Karina saw usually.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"But…why are you here?"

"Mom's deciding to sell the house, she told me to get a job while I'm at it."

"I don't get it…I understand selling the house…but why a job?" Karina questioned.

"I mean I better get used to this place and the people if I'm gonna move here right?"

"What? You're moving here?"

"You sound somewhat disappointed."

"No. no no, not that at all…just…in all the places in Japan, you wanted Tokyo?

"What's the problem?" Kenji raised an eyebrow

"Nothing."

"It's okay, I will try not to ruin the loving relationship between you and you're boyfriend if that's what you're saying." Kenji turned his back as Karina nearly jumped out of her skin.

"What the hell?"

"Karina, don't lie to me…I thought…I thought we were…"

"Is…this the thing about…the TV broadcasting…I mean, is that what you saw?" Karina bit her bottom lip.

"What do you think?"

"Kenji, I'm really sorry…"

"It's okay." He said in a voice that didn't gain her trust.

"No…you don't get it, the thing is, we're not dating, Yuki and I…we're just very good friends…but the reporters thought that we were a couple…and it was just some darn stupid mistake…they don't know what their talking about."

"Really?" Kenji gave her a look of disbelief.

"What…you don't believe me? Kenji…I'm not the kind of person who can lie smoothly okay? Can't you tell, I'm being serious here." Karina sighed getting a bit frustrated.

"…..ok…well…I trust you, so sorry….I got the wrong message…note to self, never listen to the media." Kenji turned his gloomy expression to a quick joke.

"Ah Thank you!" Karina ran behind the counter and gave him a strong bear hug.

"So…tell me who the cake was for?"

"No one…I was hungry." Karina lied in her usual….obvious way.

"Yea…now I get what you mean by you're terrible lying." Kenji laughed.

"Sure sure." Karina smirked.

After Kenji had closed the shop, he had gone back to his temporary rental home in Tokyo as Karina went to her apartment.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Shigure, I'm going to bed, I'm getting tired." Yuki stepped out of the bathroom and collapsed onto the queen sized hotel bed.

"Umm…before you sleep Yuki…there is a slight incy wincy problem." Shigure pointed out to the bed and looked around, it was the only bed in the whole suite.

"Go book yourself a room."

"I'm afraid I don't have enough money."

"That's you're problem."

"Oh Yuki, why do you have to be so cruel?" Shigure fell onto the other side and pulled the covers up pretending to be asleep when he heard and felt a strong pain on the side of his body.

"You can sleep on the floor you pervert." Yuki snatched the blankets and punched Shigure so hard, he fell off the bed and onto the carpet.

"But Yuki…"

"Goodnight." Yuki switched off the lights and threw a pillow at Shigure at the same time.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The bright morning rays lit through the see through curtains in the hospital ward as Kyo groaned at the aching pain on his close to broken arm. He turned his body around and looked at Tohru, she looked so cute and peaceful when she was sleep. 'Argh…now I just sound perverted.' He awoke from his thoughts and sat up, staring at the ceiling.

"Good Morning Kyo." Tohru's cheerful and tired voice filled the room.

"Uhh…morning." Kyo responded hoping that she didn't see him watching her in her sleep.

"Well…are you hungry?" Kyo found this question as a way to save the silence.

"No, I'm fine thanks." Tohru also sat up and smiled.

"Umm…I'd just like to say how happy I am and how grateful I feel that you saved my life, I could've died in that fire so thank you very much." Tohru spoke.

"It's….it's nothing, just…ahh I'm so angry…Tohru, I saw a person outside of our house that night just moments before the fire started." Kyo blushed then decided to tell her about that mysterious figure lurking in their garden, believing that he wasn't hallucinating.

"Oh…really?" Tohru's eyes widened.

"I think they started the fire…but I only managed to catch a glimpse of the person, it was too dark to see anything."

"Oh dear…this isn't good...somebody hates us… I mean hates me…"

"Who knows…but it is strange that is happened to start in you're room."

"I…remember trying to open the window…but it wouldn't open, it was so stiff…and then I thought…you were still in the house…and….you…"

"Tohru…if something like this ever happens again, promise you won't…you won't worry about me…and save yourself?" Kyo sighed but felt very warm inside to know that she really cared about him that much.

"I…I can't…I'm sorry but it's just a natural reaction."

"Okay…you can worry about me but first, worry about yourself…okay?"

"Oh….uhh….ok…." Tohru wasn't fully convinced that she will actually do that in an act of emergency but agreed anyway.

"So umm…how's you're arm? I know…you're hurt it because of me…and…"

"It's not you're fault, it was that damn tree…umm…yea, my arms fine…" Kyo answered.

"Oh well, that's good…because I was thinking…once we are allowed to leave the hospital and when you're arm has recovered…maybe we could do it again?" Tohru started to turn pink.

"Do what?"

"Umm…go out…maybe not a picnic but this time we could try something new…."

"Right….sure…ok…I guess." Kyo found this moment extremely awkward. 'Wait a minute, is she asking me out on a date?' He asked himself inside his head while also blushing.

"Great….oh and Kyo?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm hungry."

"Oh…we'll call them up and get some breakfast." Kyo grinned at her.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'_sound of door knocking'_

"Hurry up and come in already, just tell me the news and make it fast."

"Excuse me master…but I'm afraid to say that our plan failed."

"WHAT? Do you know how damn long it took to pick the perfect moment to start a fire with only Kyo and that Tohru in the house….don't come here and say that my plan failed after all my hard work!"

"….."

"How did it fail? Tell me now!"

"Umm…Kyo managed to save Tohru…they both survived with minor injuries, they're at the hospital now."

"It's not possible, this is ridiculous…. Are you lying to me?"

"No, my apologies master but I would never lie to you…It's true, maybe we should try something else next time, there is always another way…."

"Forget it, I'm not in the mood to think about this right now, get out!"

"Yes master….Akito."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: One word…evil guy! (Wait a minute…that's two words)

Thanks for reading and whoever agrees with me…(here comes the usual words of plead)… Review please! (All people that are irritated with Akito right now in this story come as one, release you're anger and unite in this…well… page….haha) 

….

Don't worry, I'm not that scary, review if you like, don't review if you don't wanna…just hope you enjoyed reading this story.

Lol… + Angelite Phoenix

****


	10. Chapter 10: Deep

A/N: Here I am, back from my holiday, been to Shanghai & Japan and lemme tell ya…I went to the bookshop and there was like 7 long double sided rows of full-on manga! It was seriously heaven…and sad thing was that the English section was only a quarter of a row:'( Anyway, here's some replies to my great and noble reviewers for Chapter 8.

Fan Fiction: 

Kitty Mojo: Nice and expressive review, I like it! _Personal Quote: YOU ROCK!_  
moonflower: I'm thrilled that you find my story interesting, thank you!

Mischievous Angel: Here's an invisible gold medal, lol, for your constant awesome reviews, also your wonderful ideas for my story are great!

Mediaminer: 

Anna may Dreamer: Thanks a lot for your opinion, I'll think about it!

Ren-hatake: Yea, I hope so too. Thanks for your review

Silver-wolf: Yup, Crazy is a good definition for him.

**Chapter 10: Deep**

Risa Yoshida opened the door to her new home for the first time, took a deep breath and signaled the men to start unloading the truck full of furniture and priceless merchandise. It wasn't the fact that their money had gone down the drain, in fact they were still rich but soon after her husband died, they needed a new start, and that was going to take place in Tokyo. Where the busy streets lit up during the evening to reveal a whole new city of flashing lights. Risa took a step and called for her son Kenji to come nearer.

"It's nice, isn't it. Even though the house may be slightly smaller than our previous home in Nagoya, I made sure that the garden would be bigger to balance it out. Don't worry Kenji, I'm sure you'll settle in just fine. I contacted Karina's school Kaibara High, and that's where you'll be going so you're lucky to have someone so close to you attending the same school." Risa chatted away happily.

"I'm…going to Karina's school?" Kenji asked.

"Yes…why, is there a problem?"

"No, it's fine…umm but does Karina know?

"Well, that will all be sorted out once the furniture is arranged." Kenji's mother lifted her head and started walking upstairs.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Now, tell me Plan B." Akito ordered towards a man known as his servant."

"Yes…well, I thought maybe we'd be able to organize a holiday for the teenagers, perhaps a large group…" He started.

"You're wasting my time, get on with it."

"Yes master…umm except, the holiday isn't going to be an ordinary holiday, instead I was thinking of making them suffer, somehow, if we can kill Kyo and Tohru, we might as well kill the whole group to make it all easier, plus it would mean no witnesses." The servant tried his best at sounding evil.

"So, in other words, you're saying that we make them think their all going for a great relaxing vacation when their actually going to be opening the doorway to death?"

"Indeed, master Akito."

"Not bad for a useless servant like you, I'll consider it although it may take some time to set up the whole scenario. We have to make them believe that they are attending an event of their lives."

"Yes, Master."

"So what do you have in mind that I could use as an excuse to convince them?"

"I'll send the plan to you later, if it's alright Master?"

"Make it quick, You may leave."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Finally, the renovations are going to be complete just in time before the school term starts, we'll be able to move back to our little home again. Isn't that great Yuki?" Shigure grinned as he ate his breakfast in the hotel room.

"Just shut up and let me sleep." Yuki groaned while pulling his sheets up to cover his ears.

"So…I forgot to tell you but your friend Karina's on the phone." He waved the phone in front of Yuki

"Give it here." Yuki demanded, snatching the phone from Shigure and getting up from bed.

"Hello?"

"Hey Yuki, how's it going?" Karina's voice was loud and cheerful, it was a good wake-up call.

"Karina…Hi…umm, I'm fine thank you…" Yuki suddenly remembered his last encounter with Karina's mother.

"That's great, I just wanted to know if…."

"Karina…I met you're mother." He interrupted.

"……Yes….Okay….What one?"

"Biological."

"BIOLOGICAL?' She shouted.

"Yea."

"WHAT?"

"Look, I'm sorry, I have another call coming…umm I'll explain later..okay?"

"But…"

"Beep….Beep…Beep."

"Hello?" Yuki answered the second phone call.

"Good morning Yuki." Akito's icy tone make Yuki jump.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Great, he hung up on me, just when I thought we were getting somewhere." Karina sighed and place her phone next to her bedside table.

She closed the door behind her and decided that she needed to fill her fridge so she set off to the supermarket, expecting to find a beautiful clear day (as the weather forecast said) but yet, only got to see the rain pouring down right after she paid the money at the counter.

"Geez, I didn't bring an umbrella…there goes my trust for the weather forecast." She said, slightly annoyed as the wind blew her credit and Id cards out of her purse resulting Karina, having to run after the important, soon-to-be-wet items.

"I believe this is yours." Instead, a kind lady managed to retrieve Karina's stuff and handed it to her.

"Thanks a lot." Karina smiled, but couldn't help but notice, apart from their age difference, she resembled some features of her own.

The lady then stared at her Id card as she handed it back, and stopped moving.

"You…you are Karina?"

"Yes."

"What is you're last name?"

"Well, if ya really wanna know, I have 3. Sohma, Yoshida and Hiroshi. Why do you ask?" Karina laughed.

"I think you have 4"

"Excuse me?"

"My name is Nara Horikawa, I'm sorry to intrude, but…do you know a Yuki Sohma?"

"Umm…yes I do."

"I finally found you!" The lady known as Nara suddenly gasped and hugged Karina and burst into tears, making her feel awkward because to her, she was a stranger.

"Uhh…who are you?"

"I'm…you're mother."

"My……mother?" 'so this is what Yuki wanted to tell me today.' Thought Karina.

"Yes, oh my, you're so young, and beautiful. The daughter I've been trying to find for almost 14 years." She said taking out a tissue to dry her eyes.

"Hey…umm, listen, would you like to have dinner with me tonight? I want to know all about you and how you're doing." Nara asked.

"Well….sure…okay…"

"Thank you, I'm so glad that you're here, right now…please meet me at the restaurant by the seaside at 7pm, I must go now, but thank you so much my dear Karina." Nara wiped her last tear and ran off.

'Right now, I have never been so confused in my life…is she really my mother? I thought that the name Nara represented something that happened in my past…but, I hardly know her, and I'm already heading off to dinner tonight…gosh, I'm so messed up.' Karina picked up her supermarket bags and headed back to her apartment under the rain but then slipped and fell into a puddle of mud and water.

She tucked her side-fringe behind her ear and sat up, soon feeling the rain stop and a hand that grabbed onto hers. But the sound of rain was still loud and she could even see it, just not feel it. Then she realized she was being helped up by a handsome boy, with purple eyes…that sparkled…

"Yuki." Karina smiled warmly, noticing the umbrella over her and Yuki's head.

"Are you alright?" He questioned as he helped her with one of the supermarket bags.

"I am now, thanks."

"You're welcome." He smiled back and walked with Karina to her apartment.

"Look, I'm sorry I hung up on you…what I was going to say was…"

"No problem…I've already met her though, if you're talking about Nara Horikawa, my mother?"

"Yea…sorry I didn't tell you earlier."

"Nah it's okay. I did find it a bit shocking, but I've got a dinner tonight with her so we can get to know each other."

"That's great!"

"Yes…it is, umm, so what are you doing for the rest of the holidays?" Karina asked.

"Well, about that…"

_**Flashback**_

"_Akito…it's you." Yuki shuddered._

"_Yes…it's me, I called to apologize." Akito's voice turned soft._

"_For what happened at the main house the last time we met. I'd just like to say I'm sorry, to all of you. I've finally realized what it's like to be treated that way, and I am choosing to accept all of you. You, Kyo, Tohru and Karina. I want us to be friends, and to prove that I am not lying, I have organized a trip for the last week of the school holidays, for the five of us plus a friend of your choice to travel to Europe." He continued after Yuki's long silence._

"_A trip?"_

"_Yes…we can all spend time together like real friends do, and I know this will sound weird after my cruelty towards all of you, but I would like to get to know you all, you're interests, everything. Don't you think it's a great idea…or…do you refuse?"_

"_Umm…can I think about it?"_

"_Of course…but oops, I forgot to tell you, I'm sorry, I've already booked the tickets…because I thought that you would agree the minute I…"_

"_I…have to go. Sorry, bye Akito."_

_**End of Flashback**_

'Maybe I should ask her, besides, she needs a break from everything she's been through.' Yuki considered.

"Would you like to go to Europe with me?" He questioned bravely.

"E-Europe?...With….with…you?" She seemed startled.

"Yea…haha, it's very sudden, I know."

"Oh, Wow, that is…awesome!" Her eyes lit up with excitement.

"So…with only you…or….?" She asked slightly embarrassed,

"Well actually…don't freak out, but Akito invited all of us for a trip. You, me, Tohru and Kyo and a friend." He explained.

"That…is….somewhat, unexpected." Karina replied, not liking the sound of Akito's name being mentioned.

"I didn't believe it either, until that phone call." Yuki told Karina the whole story with the friendship thing and all while she listened carefully while having a look of disbelief on her face.

"Ouch…so…do you trust him?"

"…"

"Cos if you do, I'll trust him too, whatever you decide, I'll tag along with, I mean if you're there then, nothing bad can happen to me…right?" She grinned.

"Oh…umm…okay, I just, I think…he maybe telling the truth, he sounded serious…and different." Yuki blushed.

"Okay then, I'm in, lets go to Europe!" Karina leaped up and hugged Yuki.

"S-sure, whatever makes you happy." Yuki hugged her back.

"So are Kyo and Tohru actually going?"

"I haven't told them yet.."

"No worries, I'll call my dear brother and sweet Tohru, and we'll get cracking." Karina had the utter most look of joy on her face, that Yuki couldn't help but smile along with her. Somehow, seeing her happy seemed to light a warm fire inside of him that would glow.

"Umm, about the extra friend thing, you can choose." Yuki suggested.

"ME? W-what about Kyo or Tohru."

"I doubt that stupid cat would bring anyone and as for Tohru, she wouldn't be able to choose between Miss Uotani and Miss Hanajima."

"Oh…then….what about you?"

"Don't worry about me, apart from Kyo, I already have my friends with me."

"O-ok….well then, thank you."

"You're welcome."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Good news, you two, you'll be out of the hospital tomorrow evening." Momiji entered the room and sat between Kyo and Tohru's bed.

"Thank god, I'm sick of this place." Kyo stretched his arms and legs.

"That's wonderful, thank you Momiji for coming to visit me today." Tohru said.

"No need to thank me, I'm just here to bring you some fresh flowers and better food." Momiji saluted and exited the room.

"Hello my little sunshine…and Kyo, I received a letter in the mail today, care to read?" Shigure came in and handed out two neatly presented white envelopes to both Kyo and Tohru.

"Hello Shigure." Tohru started to open the letter and read in silence as Kyo did the same.

It took a while till they spoke, at first, Tohru looked at Kyo, Kyo looked at Tohru, they exchanged strange glances and then focused on Shigure.

"What did it say? No wait…who is it from?"

"You jerk, why would Akito wanna do something like that?" Kyo threw the letter at Shigure.

"Huh?"

"Umm…Excuse me Shigure but the letter is from Akito…although, I'm not sure if…."

"Oh….Europe! that is so unfair, you two lovers get to go to the romantic cities all by yourself…and now….all I got is myself." Shigure ignored the fact that Akito sounded strange in the letter and changed to a fake and dramatic mood.

"Uhh…Kyo, you're cell is ringing." Tohru pointed out just before Kyo could give Shigure a big tell-off.

"Hi Karina." Kyo answered.

"Well if it isn't my favorite brother Kyo, Hey!...I'm guessing you have heard the news?"

"News?"

"Europe." Karina spoke.

"That freak Akito just sent me and Tohru a letter, he said.."

"I know…Yuki received a personal call from Akito and he told me what he said…it seems like Akito was being serious."

"You actually believe that creep?" Kyo's voice started to rise.

"Umm….I don't know…"

"That crap is…"

"I want to go to Europe." Tohru interjected throughout Kyo's mild swearing sessions.

"You what?" Kyo forgot about the call and dropped the phone.

"I think that….it would be nice, I've never been outside of Japan before…and my mom always told me that it was a beautiful place worth a lot of expensive dollars just to fly there…so I don't want to miss the opportunity. If what Akito wrote was the truth…then I really would like to go because….I want to give Akito a chance, I would love to be friends with him." Tohru went into a moment of happiness as Kyo picked up his phone from the floor.

"Okay…we're going….apparently."

"Kyo, you don't have to go just for me…" Tohru felt weird at Kyo's sudden mind-change.

"If it means skipping school then what more of a choice do I have?" Kyo gave her a reassuring look and spoke back into the phone.

"This is gonna be so great! You, me, Yuki and Tohru, the four of us and…someone else, oh and hey, you don't mind if I pick a friend to join us…do you!" Karina said excited.

"Go ahead but don't get too excited, it could be a hoax."

"Haha…hopefully not. Well you get better okay? And when you are, go pack you're bags and I'll see you in the airport, love ya, say hi to Tohru for me, Bye!"

"Bye." Kyo replied, but couldn't help but notice Karina's hyperactive ness when normally she was just the casual, funny but quiet one. It was good to hear his sister so happy, she deserved it.

"You four are so lucky." Shigure whined.

"Leave us alone will you?"

"OOohhh….sure…..alone……hehehe." Shigure teased and closed the door behind him.

"Grrr…that perverted man." Kyo threw his slipper at the door.

"Well….goodnight Kyo, I'm going to bed a bit early today, oh and Thank you for deciding to come to Europe as well….because, without you, the trip may just be missing something."

"Uhh….sure…night then." Kyo quickly turned to the light switch so he could save further blushing. Nobody had ever said that to him before…and he felt…better…like he was no longer unwanted.

_Three hours later…_

"Karina….aren't you asleep yet?" Kyo got woken up from the phone ringing next to his bed.

"……I'm….really sorry to call you so late….but, I officially hate my father."

"I do too you know." Kyo found it no surprise.

"I had dinner with my biological mother, that father of mine lied to my mum and told her that he wasn't married and that he didn't have any children….he had a damn affair, and tried to convince my mother to have an abortion when he found out she was pregnant with me….and when she refused, he just dumped her there, and forgot about me, and now, look at him now, in a way he's trying to convince me that my mum was the one that did something wrong…or, he's acting all soppy and nice and I hate it."

"You found your mum?"

"Yes…well actually Yuki found her."

"That damn rat."

"I'm just….so angry and overwhelmed, I feel like…"

"Punching and kicking the daylights out of him?" Kyo finished her sentence.

"Yes."

"Go ahead, I'll be glad once he's dead."

"Well…thanks anyway…for talking, I mean, I don't know why I called, I just wanted somebody to talk to, and my closest family member just came to mind, so I guess that's the half brother of mine."

"Uhh, no problem."

"See you then."

"Bye."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kenji sat down and started to watch TV while cooling down to a nice iced lemonade when he heard the ring of the doorbell, got up from the couch and opened the door.

"Welcome to my new home." He smiled and greeted Karina with a gentle kiss.

"Hey Kenji, I love your home already." She answered.

"Karina dear…" Risa called out to her from the kitchen, although she was still not used to Kenji dating Karina, she had at least accepted it.

"Hi!" Karina hugged her.

"So, what brings you here?"

"Well, I have some good news, and a question to ask Kenji."

"Me and Kenji have some good news for you too. Come, sit down." Risa gestured towards the comfortable seat.

"You first." Karina exclaimed.

"Okay….umm….I'm going to your school." Kenji said shortly.

"Oh really?" Her eyes widened.

"That's about it….so….what's yours."

"Right…well, about you attending my school, that's great, and umm, I found my biological mother." Karina explained as Risa spat out her tea that she was drinking and started to cough.

"Oh…I'm sorry…Are you okay?" Karina asked, a bit worried.

"Y-yes…w-w-w-wow….you found you're mother?"

"Long story."

"Oh well, you can tell me when I get back from the bathroom then." Risa got up and left without further words.

"So, anything else?" Kenji queried, disturbing the silence.

"Yea, well, lately, I think we haven't been spending a lot of time together, so I wanna know if you are interested in gong to Europe with me, and my friends?"

"You've got to be kidding?" Kenji laughed.

"No, no, I'm not, seriously, umm….well, we got free tickets, and so, Me, Yuki, Kyo, Tohru, this guy Akito….will be leaving next week, theres a spare ticket so, I want _you_ to come." She explained.

"Oh my god, Europe?" Risa stepped out of the bathroom.

"Yes, it's true, so…what do you think?"

"Kenji, you should go, oh my, especially Paris, the romantic city, ah so beauti…oh sorry I've got to take this call." Risa went outside to answer her business call.

"….Kenji?" Karina lifted his chin and observed his reaction.

"You want me….to come?" He said slowly.

"Of course." Karina leaned in and pecked him on the cheek.

"Why wouldn't I anyway?" She smiled.

"Thanks….K.S, as long as you're coming, I'll go for sure."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Enter, servant."

"Good evening master Akito."

"Tell me, Is the plan working?"

"Luckily, Fortunately, Yes master, Kyo isn't fully convinced, he's only going because Tohru is, but I think it will all work out as planned. Karina has chosen…well…I think her boyfriend Kenji, and Yuki is sure to come too."

"Excellent…no wait…perfect…hang on a minute, that darn Karina has a boyfriend?"

"I'm just assuming, master, but I know for sure that their relationship is very close."

"I see…well, he'll be meeting his end as well then, hahaha…"

"Indeed master."

"They have also decided that they would like to visit perhaps Paris, Italy or Germany."

"You idiot, where we are going to go is completely **my **decision, we will definitely go to Paris, but the rest is all up to **me**, do you understand?"

"Clearly, Master Akito."

"Now what else is left?"

"Just further arrangements like booking the plane tickets, organizing the hotels and the…dangerous attractions plus we need to hire an assassin for a great deal of purposes whilst in Europe, that's about it."

"An assassin huh?"

"To set up…you know what at the whereabouts."

"Of course I know what you're talking about you fool! Stop making me look stupid, you're nothing but a useless servant, now get out."

"My apologies master Akito, I never intended to do such a thing, I'll leave now."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Don't worry, the action will start next chapter, this one was basically explaining Karina meeting her mother, Kyo and Tohru getting out of hospital, Kenji moving in and the news of Europe with Akito's ….well, plan. Of course I won't tell you what will happen but you'll find out. Reviews please! as usual hehe.

Thank you for reading and never forget, You guys/girls ROCK!

#Ange-Phoenix#


	11. Chapter 11: Intensity

A/N: Believe it or not, this is the longest chapter I've ever written 4000 + words…lol…and a small note: Mild swearing in this chapter only because of …well yea, accidents and stuff. The umm ending bit is focused on one couple and for the next chapter, it'll be focused on the other to show the developments in the story about…well their love and relationships and the changes so okay, enough from me…Enjoy!!

**Fanfiction:  
**Mischievouz Angel- Back to my gold medal buddy Kimmy, Yes Karina is currently Kenji's girlfriend, and hint hint…currently…

Moonflower- Thank you, I chose Europe because it will help with my future chapters and plus it's a beautiful country, so I assumed that Tohru and co. would love it aside from the umm… things that are coming their way.

**Mediaminer:  
**silverwolf- Haha, hot-headed protective brother, nice one, I love the phrase lol. And yea…with Yuki and Kenji there, triangles may turn things upside down. Oh and one more thing. This chapter is dedicated to you. I know, sounds cheesy, but yea thank you so much for your reviews on my story, they really have helped and I appreciate it!

**Chapter 11: Intensity**

It was early in the morning, roughly 3:25am as the chauffeur hit the brakes on the slender black limousine and stopped outside of Tokyo Narita International Airport. It was a relaxing yet strange ride, as Kyo, Tohru, Yuki and Karina would've thought and if it weren't for the girl's excitement, the journey would've been completely silent.

Karina stepped outside and smiled as soon as she saw Kenji waiting for her. He chose to go with his mum instead of the limousine.

"Kenji!" She ran forward and kissed him just as Yuki closed the door and winced as he suddenly felt a strong loss of hope, just a few days ago, he thought he had a chance, that maybe Karina would like him…or maybe she wasn't dating Kenji but obviously he was mistaken. Kyo and Tohru almost had the same reaction but for different reasons. Kyo thinking ' Who is that guy? I never knew Karina was dating, If she is, he better be good enough for her.' And Tohru on the other hand. ' So this is her boyfriend? I'm so happy for her.'

"Hey guys, come over here, meet Kenji, he's well…my umm boyfriend from Nagoya, and Kenji, this is my great half-brother or if I simplify, just brother, Tohru and you've met Yuki." She introduced.

"So you're the boyfriend huh?" Kyo raised his eyebrow.

"And you're the brother, nice to meet you and don't worry, you don't have to doubt me, I'll take care of Karina as much as I can on this trip." Kenji joked seeing Kyo's surprised expression.

"Hello Yoshida-san, it's a pleasure to be finally able to meet you." Tohru's formality came in.

"Just call me Kenji, mind if I call you Tohru?"

"N—no problem at all." Tohru smiled.

"Okay, reunions over, we gotta catch a plane, coming?" Akito interrupted the friendly circle and called for his chauffeurs to help take the luggage.

As they checked in their baggage, went through Immigration and the scans, time finally allowed them to board the plane.

(From Left to Right on the middle, note: large planes have 5 seats in the middle row and about 3 on the right and the left of the plane.) Kyo sat on the left edge, Tohru next to him followed by Yuki, then Karina then Kenji on the right edge. Akito decided to let them have privacy this time as he treated himself to first class, away from the others while they just boarded as an economy class passenger.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A tall and skinny posh lady walked into the plane and sat next to Akito. Her dark purple hair, which was long and straight, tied up in a half-ponytail. Her nails were coated with dark and cold coloured designs with 3 layers of nail varnish on top. She carried a black Prada bag over her shoulder and wore a shade of plum lipstick that matched her Gucci black boots and expensive jewellery. The eyes were the colour of a river at dawn.

"Akito Sohma, I presume." Her voice was feminine but powerful.

"You, are Amaya Natsume, I hired you. Correct?"

"How much are you willing to pay me for my service?" She ignored his question and asked coldly as the plane lifted off the ground and started to fly upwards.

"Depends on how well you do, or whether or not you succeed."

"I'm warning you now, you better not be playing with me in these silly games, you will give me my money by the time I start the first mission as I prove to you how dangerous I can be."

"Dangerous? Is that so? I'd like to see what kind of potential you have." Akito seemed amused.

"Oh you have no idea what I am capable of." The assassin gave an evil grin.

"Well before we make any assumptions, shall I treat you to a glass of wine?"

"Certainly."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So what are we going to do during this flight?" Karina asked the whole gang.

"Watch movies, what else?" Kyo turned on his screen.

"I think that's all we can do, unless you want to sleep." Tohru puffed up her pillow.

"Well, I'm going to start browsing the games section." Kenji spoke.

"What can I say? You still love video games." Karina teased.

"Karina, would you like to get a drink first?" Yuki suggested as Karina nodded.

The flight lasted for fourteen hours. Kyo fell asleep soon after on Tohru's shoulder, Kenji only slept for 3 hours and spent the rest of the time flicking through the entertainment section. Karina started to get tired very fast, left the screen off most of the time and stole Kenji's pillow then leaned onto Yuki accidentally as she dozed off and Yuki sat still, watching his movie while having his crush sleeping beside him. Their first stop was Paris. Following that would be perhaps Rome, Spain then last of all Switzerland. It was about four countries but they only had eighteen days to do it all plus the travelling.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Amaya…hmm, your name means night rain, suits your personality." Akito commented.

"Yours means bright, no, definitely does not suit you." Amaya shot back while sipping her second glass of Chardonnay.

"So the first plan, whilst in Paris is due to happen just as soon as they arrive in the hotel."

"Yes, that one is going to be very interesting, I cannot wait."

"Just a few more hours, oh well, Cheers." Akito raised his glass.

"Whatever."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tohru heard and felt a thud as the plane landed in the Airport in Paris, France. She woke up and rubbed her eyes, how long had she been sleeping? She didn't know, but then felt embarrassed and sat up instantly when she saw Kyo still asleep on her shoulder, but woke him up by getting a fright.

"Kyo….I'm sorry, uhh….we've arrived." She pretended nothing happened.

"About time." Kyo didn't notice her blushing.

"Hey Karina, we're here…okay, could've at least fallen asleep leaning on me rather than him." Kenji said under his breath feeling slightly jealous as Yuki woke up.

"Hmm? What did you say… Woah! Yuki, did I just….fall asleep…like…nearly on top of you?" Karina looked away and cringed.

"Maybe, haha, oh well, as long as you slept comfortably that's all that matters." Yuki laughed reassuringly while Kenji just gave a look of 'What the heck?' towards both of them.

_Two hours later_

The clock struck 4pm in Paris as they all arrived at their destination, The L'Hôtel d'Etoile de Paris. Translated as The Paris, Star Hotel. The air smelt like fresh baked bread since there was a bakery nearby situated on the same street as the shopping mall across the hotel. Behind the hotel was a beautiful lake, which was rarely found in Paris since it was an occupied city full of old buildings. The lake probably gave the hotel its name as it originated from the scenery. At night, when the sky was cloudless, the stars would shine onto the lake that reflected everything above it, making it a beautiful sight with double the amount of sparkling stars. It was all written down in the brochure that Tohru was reading.

"Kyo, look at this, it's absolutely stunning." Tohru pointed to the picture as Kyo faked at being interested when really he was just eager to get inside the hotel room and chill out for an hour.

"Well, may I introduce you to Amaya Natsume, my, fiancée?" Akito stepped into the hotel.

"WHAT?" Kyo said the loudest as the others stopped their actions and stared at Akito.

"Yes, we're engaged, it's great, okay, now while I get the luggage sorted out, Miss….I mean Mrs Natsume will show you to your rooms on the 50th floor. I hope you enjoy the view because I have chosen the highest floor and the best rooms. "

"Oh my god, Akito…we're talking about Akito here…is getting married?" Karina had her mouth open wide.

"Seems like it, why what's the big deal?" Kenji finished the last of his lemonade that he bought outside of the hotel.

"What's the big deal? I'll tell ya the big deal alright…." Kyo started.

"It's just not Akito to do something like that, he wasn't the kind of person that treated everyone nicely." Yuki interjected.

"And he still isn't." Kyo folded his arms when he remembered that his fiancée was standing behind them.

"Umm…Mrs Natsume, I think we can go up now." Tohru looked up at the tall lady that was frowning.

"Oh, right." She pressed the lift button as the others followed her and Tohru into the lift.

"So…Mrs Natsume…"

"Amaya, Mrs Natsume sounds way out of my league plus it makes me feel old." The lady instructed.

"Yes…Amaya-san, umm, congratulations, for getting engaged." Tohru said.

"Uh huh, sure." Amaya didn't sound too happy as her voice showed a strong sign of sarcasm.

As soon as the lift stopped on the 30th floor, Mrs Natsume exited but told the others to stay inside and find their own way into their rooms as she gave them the card.

"This is my floor, just be happy you've got better rooms than me." She left without another word.

"Just typical of Akito to marry someone like that." Kyo insulted as the lift door closed.

Suddenly, just seconds after Kyo spoke, the lights of the lift turned off and everything was complete darkness.

"What the hell?"

"Kyo…this is really scary…." Tohru quivered.

"Crap."

"Oh my god, Oh my god." Karina's voice came out distressed as she started to panic.

"Karina…calm down….where are you." Kenji asked a bit worried.

"Is everything okay in here?" Yuki spoke.

"I can't breathe….we're stuck….i-i-n a lift….no…no, this can't be happening….Kenji….help."

"It's alright Karina I'm here." He managed to find her and wrapped his arms around her shivering body.

"Hey….uhhh, so what's going on?" Kyo felt awkward.

"Kyo…I think, we…"

Two seconds later, the lift started going up slowly until, they could see a light, they were on floor 50 as the sign said but the door wouldn't open, and then it happened, the lift, went down.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_5 minutes ago_

"Damn you Akito, I am just an assassin, I work alone, I did say I wasn't here to play your stupid games of becoming your fiancée, what the hell are you thinking?"

"I am thinking of increasing your pay if you co-operate."

"You better, nobody messes with me, do you understand?" Amaya demanded, her nails digging into the collar of Akito's shirt.

"No need for violence, it's just something to get them confused and perhaps to make them believe that I have changed when I haven't."

"So tell me why didn't you just let me kill the lot of them straight away, it would've been a lot easier and better for us all?"

"Because, this was just a test, and the beginning of a series of threats, torture and death. There is a lot more to come. And I don't want to ruin the fun. You always need a draft before a final copy, haven't you ever learnt that before? It's the solution and answer to…"

"Quit your blabber and tell me where I have to stop the lift."

"Ill tell you when you make your move."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"AAAAHHHHHH" Sounds of screaming filled the lift as it went down, it felt like forever, and not to mention the darkness and heart ripping feeling that was beyond imaginable. Yet it wasn't pain, just terrible suffering for the horrifying seconds that were going past

Karina clutched onto two people beside her that were trying to protect her even though they knew it was useless, if this lift was going to the bottom, all of them would die for sure. One arm on Yuki and another on Kenji, although, people don't really think of this when their going to die do they? Tohru was holding onto the bar with her head on Kyo's shoulder at the same time.

In about what felt like forever, the lift stopped, just like that and the lights came back on to reveal floor 3. They had just fallen 47 floors from the top of the hotel. Tohru's face appeared along with Kyo's. Karina's tear stained face was shocked and dead petrified as she kept her arm linked to the people next to her.

"Are we dead?" Kenji was the first one to speak and then he realised Karina's expression of horror and saw blood on his wrist, her nails had dug into his skin and he hadn't been able to notice it. Then with hope, Karina turned around and looked at Yuki who on the opposite arm, had the same problem. She whispered an apology then fainted.

"Karina, oh shit." Kyo shouted as Tohru started to cry as well.

"It's okay, she's just fainted." Yuki said, holding Karina's hand relieved that they were alive.

"We have to get out of here, now!" Kenji got up and looked at the buttons as Tohru got up to help him. Kyo sat beside his sister and looked at her with despair then looked at Yuki.

"Yuki, look after her." It was the weirdest moment of their life as Yuki noticed that Kyo had just call him by his name rather than the usual 'damn rat'. He took it that Kyo was serious and really protective of his sister. 'Of course, why shouldn't he, after all, she's the only family he's got.' Yuki shrugged and took pity on him for the first time.

"Try this button." Tohru looked at the numerous icons and pushed the open door button.

"It won't work." Kenji cried out and called Kyo for help.

"I think we gotta use a lever." He suggested.

"Yea but where?" Yuki asked.

"Here, grab this." Kyo handed Kenji the handlebar on the lift as he broke it off with his strength.

"Thanks." Kenji placed the handlebar through the doors and used it as a lever as Kyo broke another one off to help Kenji. At last the doors opened wide enough for them to get through. Yuki carried Karina in his arms and passed her to Kenji on the other side after he had gotten through as they left the lift safely and collapsed from using so much energy.

"I am so suing this hotel." Kyo commented as he took a deep breath.

"I'm going to the bathroom, I…feel a bit sick." Tohru staggered towards the hallway.

"Karina…is she okay?" Yuki looked at Kenji who was currently supporting her.

"I hope so…you know Karina, she's, well, scared of getting stuck in small spaces you know? Claustrophobia? It's kinda sad cos normally you see her so calm but strong, you hardly ever get to see her cry. After all she's been through, the family issues and the deaths of the closest people in her life, Karina's still able to stand up and experience everyday life with a smile on her face. But now I can understand what it feels like to be suddenly confronted by your phobia, I mean, come on, this is meant to be a holiday." Kenji replied.

"I've….never seen her cry either…It."

"Reminds me of Tohru." Kyo interrupted.

"You mean, with the whole, loss of parents and how…"

"She's still living like she's the luckiest girl I the world, I don't know how they can both cope but they do have such courage to be able to do what many other people can't, to move on and accept everything as it is. That's why, I just want to protect them, Tohru, and my sister, because I don't think they deserve to have bad things happen to them anymore, they've suffered enough and they should be granted more that just sorrow." Kyo explained. It was strange to see him talk from his heart to Yuki and Kenji, whom he had just met yesterday.

"You're right, I wanna protect Karina as much as I can, but sometimes, I have to give her privacy and space, like to distance myself from her even though I'm eager to know if she's safe all the time." Kenji agreed.

"So…how did you two meet?" Yuki felt speechless in the previous conversation.

"She was a new girl at my old school, probably one of the few girls that didn't take interest in me…not to be bragging, but uh, I had a well…reputation cos apparently, I was popular…and well, I started to like her cos she wasn't like other girls, she was…determined, kind. Plus, don't tell her this but I was attracted to her hair colour, and her attitude. She's also really good at sports."

"She's good at sports?" Kyo repeated.

"You don't know? Wow, and you're her brother, well take a look at her old home, take one glance in her room and you'll know she's a sport athlete. Her room is full of gold and silver medals and awards for orienteering, soccer, tennis, badminton, basketball everything. She's the captain of the girl's teams, and I'm the same but for the boys. Doesn't she attend any sports in Kaibara High?"

"Well…not that I know of." Yuki answered.

"Ok, well here's Karina, you obviously don't know much about her." Kenji looked at the girl lying in his lap then at Yuki who was looking down.

"No, I don't, I never noticed that." Yuki sighed as Kyo stood up to see Tohru coming back.

"I'm sorry I took so long…what do you want to do now…I mean…we could've been killed, it's not an event that we could just…complain to the receptionist about." Tohru said as she took out a cold wet flannel and placed it on Karina's head.

"Thanks Tohru." Karina spoke as the others got a bit of a fright, thinking that she was still unconscious when she might've been listening to their conversation.

"Kenji…where are we?"

"Outside of the lift, we managed to get out, are you alright?"

"Yes…I think so, I'm sorry….Yuki, Kenji about, your wrists." She struggled to sit up and leaned against the wall still a bit weak.

"Damn it Karina, you're the one who fainted, Kenji and that damn Yuki are fine." Kyo snapped as he went back to his 'damn Yuki' phrase.

"Shall we go back to the hotel room then?" Tohru asked.

"NO! I'm never going on a lift in this hotel again, please I'll take the stairs to floor 50 if I have to." Karina's eyes shot open and showed fear.

"I'm sorry, we'll ask for a room on the bottom floors." Tohru held Karina's hand and gave her a reassuring smile.

"Tohru, are you still feeling sick?" Kyo turned towards her.

"No, I was, but now I'm fine, we should get going."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Floor 3, are you happy?"

"Yes, thank you Amaya, you're doing quite well for your first…."

"Where's the money?"

"Right here." Akito handed her a pile of 10,000 yen notes.

"Hmm…80,000 yen, okay I'll take it, I expect the next payment to be better."

"Of course it will be better, for it will require more invisibility and strategies." Akito snickered.

"Shut up and have a glass of wine." Amaya shoved the bottle towards Akito and sat down on the lounge chair smoking a long cigarette.

"So are they dead?" Akito poured himself a glass.

"Why? Your instructions clearly said…"

"Good, good, you didn't kill them. After all, my intentions were only to scare them a little."

"What's with the anger towards those loser teenagers anyway?" Amaya wondered.

"Private matters shall not be discussed with a client even if you are a professional assassin." Akito ignored her.

"Whatever, what's next?"

"Nothing else for today."

"So that's it?"

"No, tomorrow, we'll visit the glorious Eiffel Tower."

"Sounds like a good idea, you have something for me to do, right?"

"Of course, it's what I hired you for."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So did you get any contact with Akito?" Karina entered Yuki's room.

"Yes, he umm, said we could exchange rooms so yea, floor 2 is for us and so Kyo's gone down with Tohru and Kenji to book the rest of the rooms." He explained.

"Does he know…about the lift?" She shivered.

"Yea."

_**Flashback**_

"_Akito, we umm, have just been through an accident with the lift. It went down 47 floors and we were in it and the lights were off and I don't think we'd like to be on the 50th floor anymore." Yuki said seriously._

"_Holy shit, are you alright?"_

"_Yea…barely but everyone's in a bad mood and shocked."_

"_This is…incredible, I'll go have a word with the manager about their lift although…well…is there anything else I can do for you?"_

"_No, just fix the lift."_

"_Of course, this damn hotel is meant to be a 6 star."_

"_Goodnight Akito." Yuki didn't feel like speaking to Akito._

"_Yes…goodnight indeed."_

_**  
End of Flashback**_

"So….I guess I should be.."

"Are you okay? I mean…you, your, I mean, the phobia…."

"Oh…that, yea, I uhh overheard you guys talking and…, umm…"

"Kyo's just worried about you; you're the only family member he has apart from Kazuma."

"He's quite…protective of me and Tohru…"

"Yea, and Kenji is too, I can tell he…really loves you."

"L-l-loves me?" She stuttered.

"Well of course, why wouldn't he anyway? I can tell from his eyes that he's always watching out for you and worried when you're hurt so I'm sure he does."

"Oh.."

"This is the most impolite and obvious question I've ever asked….but ….do you ….umm…well….love him?"

"I-I-I…I-I….I uhh , I've never actually…thought a-about that…big….answer….b-b-before."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that…."

"I like him…I mean, a lot, and I really really do care for him, but I've never thought of it as….that kind of love…and I feel so so stupid and I hate myself for saying that cos I mean, well he's my boyfriend for gods sake and Kenji's done so much for me and look at me now? This is all I can say after all we've been through, I feel so lame right now….and annoyed at myself." Karina cut him off, relaxed a little and just said it out in front of Yuki while struggling.

Yuki was, speechless and he didn't know what to say, he just sat there and was lost in his thoughts. 'Does that mean, she likes…somebody else or, she doesn't love Kenji, or…maybe she's just plain confused.'

"Umm, I'm such a dork for telling you that, please don't tell him, I mean I trust him but, I don't even trust myself anymore."

"Karina…"

"It's just hard you know? Trying to figure out where your love life is actually going."

"Karina…"

"And how much it all means when the answer is put together."

"Umm…"

"You just don't know anything."

"Karina?"

"Oh, I'm sorry…umm…what were you saying?"

"Just relax, I'm here for you and I'll try to help you as much as I can…okay?"

"Yuki, your making me blush." Karina admitted and put on an embarrassed face.

"Oh…uhh….sorry."

"But thanks…a lot for, your offer, but I'll try to figure it out on my own okay? I mean…this is my personal…well problem or issue and I don't want you to get mixed up in this either."

"Desperate times need desperate help though." Yuki replied.

"True, but I don't feel like I deserve a boyfriend like Kenji, it's so awkward, we grew up together basically and went to the same school, shared the same memories, attended the same sport classes, everything…I actually, and I mean actually, loved him once…back then and then I picked that idea of moving and everything changed." Karina sighed and continued to ramble on.

"So what you're saying is that you shouldn't have moved?"

"Well…"

"I don't think you should regret moving because if you hadn't then, Kyo wouldn't have found his half sister and I wouldn't have been able to meet you."

"…..umm…Again, Yuki, your making me blush…but….I'm glad because…that's the absolute sweetest thing anybody's ever said to me." She bit her lip.

"Your welcome."

"Hey, you two in there! Me and Tohru have booked the rooms so unless you wanna share a room together, one of you, get out here and choose a room!" Kyo shouted.

"Yea, come on Karina!" Kenji's voice gave her the goose-bumps. How long had they been outside there? Did they overhear her and Yuki's conversation?

"I-I'll be right out." Karina smiled at Yuki nervously then ran out of the room.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: I know….you can kinda see where this is heading or the uhh minor sparks in that ending thing majig. I, like really really **apologise **to those who voted for Kenji….Really, Really really sorry! Because I've decided on making it Yuki after a long period of thinking and some other reviews and messages that influenced me on making that decision. I hope you won't mind, really sorry about that!!!!

But Thank you for reading and Please, please, please **review**!!! I need an encouragement boost so I can write the next …long cough…more cough action packed cough…. romance… chapter.

CYA :+) Angelite-Phoenix (+:


	12. Chapter 12: Mist

A/N: Thank you all! Your reviews are awesome!

**Fan fiction:  
**mysticwaterfall: ****Hey miki…hmmm, action packed romance? I like the sound of that! Thanks for the numerous reviews…haha nervous laugh  
Daelaeyni: Thank you!! I hope you like Kyoru pairings cos this chaps mostly about these two.  
Mischevouz Angel: Yup, extremely long chapter (for me) and yes, it was a bit …tough but it's all good now…hmm wonder how long this one will be...haha.  
moonflower: Thank you for your review!! x500**  
**

**Mediaminer:  
**silverwolf:  Glad to hear that you like the couple thing that I chose, it was a hard decision but I ended up with that one. And yea, it does make it quite fun with all these triangles…haha….aw man, I'm evil…lol…Thank you though!

**Chapter 12: Mist**

The clock read a late 10am in France, the boys were still asleep but the girls were already up with their suitcases. Tohru had woken up first, thinking that she had to make breakfast for everybody when she remembered that she was on holiday, all she had to do was basically relax. Karina came out of the bathroom with her hair done in a side ponytail and was complaining about jetlag.

After breakfast and when the guys had actually woken up, the five-some left the hotel and did some shopping on their own since the Eiffel Tower trip was going to start at 3pm when the time now was only 12:30. They chose to visit the bookstore first that also had some cute gifts that attracted Tohru's eye. She went straight towards the shining key chain section and browsed through the different colours.

"Tohru, is zat you're name?" A tall and muscular French boy appeared out of nowhere and handed her a flower.

"Y-y-yes….how'd you know?" She took the flower but was really surprised.

"I am very glad to meet you, I have finally found the girl of my dreams, the one I was destined to be with for eternity, wow…the colour of your eyes match the beautiful sparkling sea of turquoise. May I ask, will you be free in the weekend…"

"Hey, Lover-boy, stop the flirting will ya? She's not single you know." Karina noticed that Tohru was a bit uncomfortable with Kyo's angry expression and shouted to the flirting machine.

"I'm not?" Tohru rephrased.

"No, you're not." She winked at Tohru.

"She's occupied with that guy, over there, you see with the flaming orange hair, yea that's him, handsome, strong, their a great couple so if you know what's good for you, you'll leave them alone." Karina teased the French boy as Kyo's face looked like a beetroot with Kenji laughing hysterically in the background behind the bookshelf.

"And I suppose you'd like to go out with me then, I mean after all, your hair reminds me of the golden sun?" The French Boy gave her a toothy grin while Kenji's laugh turned into a sour cough instantly as Kyo laughed back at Kenji. Karina was wondering why everyone was so interested in her hair colour.

"She's occupied as well." Yuki butted in and put his arm around Karina's shoulder.

"Yea….what he said." Karina played along with it as the boy left with embarrassment.

"W-who was that?" Tohru quivered.

"It's alright Tohru, he's gone, I betcha he's a player, you don't wanna mess with those guys seriously. Trust me, I've seen them at my old school."

"Really? I'm just amazed that he knew my name."

"Don't be that amazed." Yuki came over and lifted the tag on her handbag to show a clear reading 'Tohru Honda' followed by her phone number.

"And Hello Kenji?, you left poor Yuki to take over your role, what's up with that?" Karina walked towards Kenji and nudged him.

"I uhh…"

"You were? Lemme guess, staring at my hair colour that you are so attracted to that you forgot to protect me from the flirting loser?" Karina joked after hearing last times conversation between the guys.

"Yea…..haha…about that…." Kenji replied nervously.

"Let's just get out of this crappy bookshop and find something to eat, I'm starving." Kyo pulled Tohru along with him and went out the door.

"But…we just ate breakfast?" Karina pointed out.

"He gets hungry easily." Kenji commented.

"Yup, that's him, eating non-stop." Yuki found it amusing.

They ended up at a small but fancy typical French café with everything on the menu under the expensive category. Even the drinks cost about 5 or more Euros at least, you could hear Kyo whining about Akito not giving them enough money to spend on things for themselves.

"So, have you guys got your camera? I've heard that the Eiffel Tower is beautiful in the afternoon when the suns shining and the park is all clean and green." Tohru reminded.

"Yes, I've got mine." Yuki replied.

"Do you think we'll be taking the lift up to the top floor for the great view?" Kenji asked and quickly shut his mouth when Karina gave him the death glare.

"I'm sorry KS, I…forgot…You okay?" He kissed her cheek.

"Barely." Karina said sarcastically and returned to her drink.

"Yea if we have to go up, we'll take the stairs." Kyo suggested.

"I think I'm going to get very scared when I go up. I'm quite scared of heights." Tohru admitted and shivered at the thought.

"You're not the only one." Karina added.

"Oh that's my cell phone." Yuki grabbed it and answered the call from Akito.

"Yuki, how are you? Since it's nearly 2, I'm coming to pick you five up a little early. Can you make it? Because I thought maybe we could take the tour at the Lourve museum right after the Eiffel Tower. Is that alright?"

"I'm good…umm…I think we can make it."

"Okay, where are you?"

"At the café around the corner of the hotel."

"Great, see you then."

"Bye." Yuki hung up and looked at the others.

"We're going to the Lourve Museum after the Eiffel…and we're leaving now."

"Right, let's go then." Kenji said.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With the car that Akito had hired, they drove to the Eiffel Tower site where a lot of kids were playing in the sunshine on the nice green grass beside the tower. You could see that Tohru had the biggest smile on her face when they got out of the car simply because she found it fascinating and hard to believe that she was here, at the wonderful Eiffel Tower in Paris, Europe.

"It's just a tower, nothing to be excited about." Kyo rolled his eyes but went along anyway.

They took the long stairs to the top of the tower and got out their cameras and started snapping pictures. Tohru then walked off and explored the place while trying to avoid the height difference. Amaya and Akito took the lift because Amaya didn't want to ruin her Gucci shoes by going up the hundreds of stairs.

"Hey Yuki, can you take a pic of me and Karina?" Kenji asked handing him the camera.

"Sure." Yuki agreed as they posed. But just before Yuki could press down on the button, Kyo called out to them.

"Damn, did you hear that?" Kyo asked. (He's got good ears…cos he's the cat….of course)

"I think so." Yuki replied.

"Hear what?" Karina and Kenji asked in unison.

"That's Tohru's voice!" Kyo sprinted off as the others had no choice but to follow.

When they got there, they found Tohru hanging off the other side of the handrail on the Eiffel Tower. She was screaming for help and her knuckles were white and were gripping onto the bars for life. Below her was the 300 metres of death and the kids on the grass that were shocked.

"TOHRU!" Kyo ran forward and noticed the broken handrail next to her that she must've leaned on before it broke. He saw her right hand slipping and started to grab it just in time as he pulled her up with all his strength with some help with the others.

When he got her up, Tohru was in tears and was crying on Kyo's shoulder but didn't hug him since she knew it would only cause more trouble if she did. Kenji and Karina stood there without saying anything as Yuki went to examine the handrail.

"Go get Akito." Kyo said.

"What is Akito going to do anyway? He wasn't here to help so he can't have saved Tohru and he still can't right now. Calling him will fix nothing." Yuki answered coldly.

"Just go get him dammit and tell him that this damn trip is nothing but a dangerous and stupid FAILURE!" Kyo was mad and was holding Tohru's hand as she continued to sob.

"Failure?" Akito came around the corner with Amaya next to him.

"Yes, that's what I said, Tohru nearly died because of this darn trip! Let's go back now!"

"Kyo…What did you say?"

"I said LETS GO BACK NOW!"

"No, I mean as in Tohru."

"The handrail was half broken, I think Tohru leaned on it and she slipped. She was hanging onto the other rail and she could've died." Karina explained with her head hung low.

"….Tohru, are you alright?" Akito went over and helped her up and pretended to be all caring.

"Y-y-yes…thanks to Kyo, who saved me." Tohru looked at Kyo lovingly and smiled at him.

"Uhh…umm…yea, whatever." Kyo blushed and looked away.

"We should…get to the museum now, it's a Monday, it closes early." Amaya couldn't care less about Tohru and urged them to hurry up.

They all went down except for Kyo and Tohru as Kyo noticed a cut on her arm from the broken rail. He ripped a bit of the bottom of his T-shirt and used it as a bandage around her arm and tied a knot then took her hand again and led her down the stairs.

"Kyo…"

"Hmm?"

"Thank…you. For always being there for me." Tohru said quietly but enough for Kyo to hear.

"Your Welcome." Kyo replied.

_An hour later_

The Lourve museum was just…plain…huge and it took a while to get through just half of the art filled building. Tohru walked in the back with Kyo and the others led the way through the museum. Akito was quite far ahead with Amaya, Yuki was walking behind Karina while she and Kenji were betting each other to who could find the Mona Lisa first.

"I found it! That one over there!" Kenji exclaimed and ran towards it as Karina just sighed.

"Umm…Karina…about last night…you really…did mean it…did you?" Yuki caught up with Karina.

"It's just…our relationship lost its sparks okay? That's all…I mean, even if it doesn't work out, we'll still be friends."

"Oh…"

"Hey do you think Kyo and Tohru could have a chance together? Their so cute together and perfect for each other." She changed the subject.

"Umm…I guess." Yuki didn't want to mention the fact that he once loved Tohru.

"Well, gotta go, see if that painting is really the Mona Lisa or not." Karina ran off purposely to avoid talking to Yuki. It wasn't that she didn't like him; it was just that every time she was with him, she would end up talking and revealing more than she would with anyone else.

"Hey Tohru, how's your arm?" Kyo felt that she was a bit quiet.

"Oh umm…it's fine, thank you." Tohru grinned and tried to forget about the feeling of terror that she felt earlier today.

"You're really scared of heights aren't you?" Kyo read her mind and forced the question out of nowhere.

"Yes, Apart from haunted houses…haha…that's the other thing that trips me up…What about you?" Tohru asked nervously.

"Uhh….I don't know." Kyo said dumbfounded.

"Okay."

"Perhaps…seeing a person I care about getting hurt or…even….I dunno….like for example, my master, he's the most important person in my life and yea…."

"So…you're afraid of losing the people you love?" She rephrased.

"Uhhh…I guess so."

"Me too." She admitted.

"So….among those people….does that include…umm….me?" Tohru bit her lip and asked.

"Uhhh...well I guess….you and Karina….not that damn rat Yuki though."

"Oh…thank you." Tohru smiled.

"I know I said that heights and haunted houses were the only things but…there are more, but now that you've told me, I thought of my mom and my dad and how, both of them have been gone for a while now…and I miss them so I understand what you mean by losing a family member or…something like that."

"Yea." Kyo agreed.

"Umm…Tohru?"

"Yes Kyo?"

"This is….for…f-f-or you." Kyo handed her a gift as her eyes lit up with excitement. It was the cute little key chain that attracted her eye early this morning just when they were at the shop, Kyo must have bought it secretly.

"Kyo…this is wonderful….Thank you so much!" She beamed at him.

"No problem, uhh hey we better catch up or else we're gonna get lost."

"Okay."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So, you're telling me that you don't even have a damn plan for this darn place?" Ayame gritted her teeth and started to argue with Akito again.

"Relax, your work is done, I've given you your money; that is all we have to do…for today."

"Crap!" She cursed.

"What is it now? Your Prada sunglasses?"

"No you bastard! It's my nail, I broke it, do you know how much it cost to take this manicure? Do you know the amount of nail polish they put on and the number of nail varnish coatings on top?"

"Don't call me a bastard or I'll fire you right here, right now." Akito frowned.

"Go ahead! I don't enjoy working for you anyway! The pay is way too low and it's not enough to buy my own sports car!" Amaya shot back.

"Shut up, I don't want to hear about these stupid cars! I'll give you a pay rise if you shut your mouth or if you just asked for it!"

"How much?"

"5 million Euros, are you happy?" Akito fumed.

"FINE!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So where are we off to tomorrow?" Karina asked as they relaxed in the hotel swimming pool.

"Nowhere interesting." Kyo replied, staying away from the water and preferring to keep lying on the sun chair.

"Well tomorrow, Akito said we could have free time but after that we're going to Rome." Kenji threw the beach-ball to Karina

"Wow, that fast?" Yuki finished swimming his length of the pool.

"Yes, that was rather short and we still have more to explore in France….Oh well, I'm just happy that I've been here." Tohru got ready to go into the water.

"You know it's weird, Akito said he wanted to be friends with us, and yet he's like…not even talking to us, letting us do the activities on our own while he sticks with his fiancée." Karina pointed out.

"I'm glad he's letting us do things by ourselves. Even though he may have changed, I still hate him." Kyo scoffed.

"I know…but don't you think it's just….not right?" Karina lingered on and threw the ball back to Kenji.

"Yea, but I don't care if we're friends or not, we'll just have fun while we're at it." Kenji answered.

"Hey Kyo, you should come join us! You look bored." Karina teased.

"No way, I'm perfectly fine here."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_The next day_

"Tohru?" Karina put on a sweet smile.

"Yes Karina?"

"I think you and Kyo should do something together today."

"Oh…really? Like what?"

"Well, since we've got free time and the whole day to ourselves, why not go somewhere like…I don't know; what does Kyo like to do?"

"Well…Kyo likes martial arts…"

"Great! Take him to a movie…and pick action." Karina suggested since she wanted to get Kyo and Tohru on a date.

"Oh…umm."

"Like….a date."

"A-a-a d-date?" Tohru stammered.

"Yes, you heard me, now go next door and ask him, he likes you, so he can't refuse."

"Well…I don't…know…"

"Come on!" Karina pushed her out of her room and listened at the door as Tohru went to the boys' room and knocked on the door.

"Good Morning Kyo…."

"Tohru…"

"Umm…would you….like to see a movie….an action movie today…with me?"

"Uhh….movie?"

"Oh…umm if you don't want to, don't force yourself. I was just asking since we…"

"Okay, I'll go." Kyo replied and closed the door.

"Shot Tohru!!" Karina grinned.

"Umm…okay…" Tohru was still nervous.

"You'll be fine. I'll take care of Yuki and Kenji and all you have to do is go on that sweet romantic day with your one and only Kyo…and don't worry, if he does something wrong, just tell me." Karina reassured her and went off to help choose an outfit for her.

"So…let's see, I think this one is nice." Karina held up flash black jeans with a bluey greeny top that matched Tohru's eyes.

"Oh…Uhh…I don't normally…"

"Try it on." Karina urged as Tohru went off to the dressing room.

She came back out after a few minutes and Karina whispered one word. "Perfect."

Next she curled Tohru's brown silky hair so it was nice, long and wavy when it was normally straight and she added some mini-clips onto the sides of her fringe. The make-up wasn't too heavy as Tohru wanted a natural look and so she dabbed on some clear lip-gloss and light blue eye-shadow then smiled at her when she was all done.

"You look….fabulous!"

"Uhh thank you." Tohru looked at herself in the Mirror and spun around.

"Okay, you're all set."

"Thank you Karina…but what about you? Are you going to do anything with Kenji?" Tohru asked.

"I thought about it, but I don't want to leave Yuki alone, it'll make him feel left out, so I can handle two for one day don't you think?"

"That's very nice of you, are you sure you don't need…"

"No, I don't, I'm fine, all I want you to do is have fun…okay?"

"Yes…thanks."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Kyo, Kyo, Kyo." Kenji chimed.

"What?"

"Please tell me you're not wearing that to the movies." Kenji raised his eyebrow.

"Why? What's wrong with what I'm wearing."

"I already went over and Tohru looks great…but you….no….you gotta get changed now."

"Into what?"

"Into this." Kenji shoved a pile of clothing at Kyo.

"You're kidding?"

"I wish I was but no."

"God, you guys or girls are so fussy." Kyo closed the door and got changed.

"See you later, and don't burp when your eating, might put her off you know?" Kenji called out to him when Kyo was all ready to go when Kyo only ignored him.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So…what do you guys wanna do today? I mean, the two lovebirds are gone to the movies." Karina questioned as they sat on the chairs at the park outside of their hotel.

"Up to you really." Yuki replied.

"Yea, you can choose." Kenji put his arm around her shoulder.

"Okay, let's go on the romantic Seine River cruise…what do you say?"

"Uhh…." Yuki paused.

"Listen, I know it's the three of us and it doesn't make sense but what else can we do?"

"Well…." Kenji didn't get to finish his sentence when Karina gave both guys a peck on the cheek.

"Sure!" Kenji changed his sentence.

"Okay…we'll go." Yuki gave in.

"Thanks guys, you're the best!" Karina laughed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: So next chapter, I decided I'd give them a break for a while and let Kyo and Tohru…spend some….quality time together and the others…go to on the cruise. And so…it may sound happy but not to put you guys down but it'll go back to the horrible things that Akito still has left to do when they go to Rome…and etc.

Thank you for reading this chapter and don't forget to press that review button!

+Angelite Phoenix


	13. Chapter 13: Fate

**A/N: **I knew I said that this was gonna be a happy chapter, but lets just say that Kenji gets a little jealous…okay maybe a lot….I mean there's love blossoming on one side and heartbreaks on the other. But it's just the beginning of this so; more of this is probably gonna happen during later chapters. Hope you like this chapter! It's got a teeny bit of angst and a teeny bit of fluff.

**Fanfiction:**

Mischievouz Angel: Heya Kimmy…As always, thanx 4 ur review(s)!

Daelaeyni- Thanks!, Kyoru's my fav pairing in fruits basket as well.

Moonflower: Yea, ones a date to die for, and the other is…well…a bad date. Thx 4 da review!

**Mediaminer:**

Silverwolf: Thank you so much for your nice reviews! Wish ya the best for the week.

**Disclaimer: I'm not writing this in every chapter but for those of you who only just started reading my story, I AM NOT NATSUKI TAKAYA…although, if it were that possible to write something as good as fruits basket, I wouldn't be on fan fiction right now, in fact I think I'd be like….famous or something….Oh well. Oh yea and to point out the obvious, I don't on fruits basket either….**

**Chapter 13: Fate**

The date was going fine and everything was perfect. Although it was casual and it was only a simple action movie, it meant a lot of Tohru and Kyo. They sat next to each other and Kyo was eating popcorn as Tohru stuck to an easy drink. However, Tohru was a little bit disturbed by the mild violence in the movie. She didn't notice this, but she was clutching onto Kyo's hand and sipped her drink. Kyo enjoyed the movie and he saw Tohru's expression, he smiled then whispered in her ear.

"You okay there?"

"Y-y-ea…I mean, it's just make-believe right?" Tohru whimpered.

"Umm…no….it's all real." Kyo hated to make her more scared but she looked kinda cute when she was all innocent and afraid.

"Oh…"

"But it's okay. I won't let that ever happen to you, so you can feel better about that." Kyo blushed.

"Really, you'd protect me."

"Well….uhh….why not, I mean you'd never do anything wrong anyway….so yea."

"Thank you Kyo, that means a lot to me and thank you so much for coming on this date with me." Tohru said until she found out that she had said the word 'date'.

"It's no big deal, really, I mean there's no damn rat around so, it's okay." Kyo squeezed her hand.

"Uhh Kyo….?"

"Yes?"

"Do-do-do you….well….do you like – like me?" Tohru asked hopefully after gaining the courage to ask that question.

"Uhh….what do you think?" Kyo answered.

"I'm sorry…I, .I just asked that b-because….."

Before Tohru could carry on, Kyo blocked her view from the screen and kissed her sweetly. Tohru closed her eyes slowly and knowing that Kyo's answer was yes just made her extremely happy. She didn't feel lonely at all anymore and she felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The breeze was uplifting and wonderful as they travelled on the beautiful River Seine with the city beside them. It felt really nice to just let go of everything and feel free and relieved. Karina spun in a circle and breathed in the Paris air.

"Isn't this great? I knew this would be perfect." She grinned.

"Of course, it was a great choice." Yuki commented.

"Yea, I'm going to get something, be right back." Kenji saw something that caught his eye and went off.

"Sure."

"Umm…Karina?" Yuki asked.

"Yes?"

"Thanks for…well taking me here too….I mean, Tohru and Kyo are together and you and Kenji should be having a great time too. So sorry if I'm intruding."

"Hey, it's no problem at all because you know what? It's way more fun if you're here. I mean, we'd never leave you out, I'm your friend right?"

"Of course."

Somehow, it just happened, the rest of the world left them and their faces were less than 10cm apart. It was a bit awkward because it was completely unexpected and what do you know? Kenji just happened to appear with roses in his hand (he was gonna give it to Karina) and saw what he assumed would be a 'kiss' when they hadn't even gone that far yet.

They didn't realise that Kenji was watching but Karina stopped when they were just about to 'kiss' and pulled away and looked at the floor.

"I-I'm sorry Yuki…..I just can't….I-I don't want to do this to Kenji."

"It's okay, I understand." Yuki looked away as well.

Kenji pretended that he saw nothing and walked towards Karina, handing her the roses and then before she could say thank you, or realise that he was back, he just pulled her in tightly and kissed her in front of Yuki, one that kind of gave Yuki the idea to 'stay away from his girlfriend.'

A while later, they ended up in the Restaurant inside of the cruise. Karina was ordering at the counter and Yuki and Kenji were sitting down on opposite sides. If you were a stranger, you might've thought that they were enemies….but who knows, maybe they were. Kenji had his arms crossed and Yuki was looking at the drinks menu.

"You know, I heard." Kenji spoke up randomly.

"Pardon?"

"I heard what you were saying with Karina in the hotel room." Kenji had obviously had enough of holding it all in and he decided tell Yuki how annoyed he was.

"Umm…."

"Why do you like her? I know, she's a beautiful and great girl and all but don't you have any idea how that makes me feel that you're going to let this happen smoothly and make it end all happy where you run off with my girlfriend." Kenji looked away.

"Kenji, it's nothing like that at all….."

"Oh really? You know I'm really confused. You like her and yet you're trying to tell her that I love her and that she should be with me….I mean, what are you really up to?"

"I…"

"You what? I think maybe meeting you was a total mistake." Kenji's voice had gotten louder and Karina who was at the counter, turned around.

"Why are you so selfish, Karina always spoke of you like you were some kind of prince or something but do you know what I see? I see you slowly grabbing her attention and taking her away from me so that she…."

"Kenji, Stop…."

"I know she told you that she doesn't love me anymore but I'm just not convinced, because, I need to hear those words from her, I mean saying it to you means nothing, I need to hear it from Karina, only, and if I never hear them, I'm gonna assume that she still likes me and that I need to get rid of you." Kenji started to sound a bit cold and Yuki was feeling uncomfortable.

"Excuse me Miss, is there anything else you'd like to order?" Karina didn't speak, nor did she move. It took her a while to react as the waiter looked at her oddly.

"Uhh….n-n-no thank you, that's all." Karina felt a bit shattered. Now because of her, Kenji was blaming everything on Yuki just because of one simple mistake. She felt stupid and useless and she wasn't sure if she was ready to face the truth in front of Kenji. 'This was meant to be a relaxing River Seine Cruise and now look at what happened.' She thought.

She walked back to the table and seated herself between the two who were extremely quiet.

"I umm….ordered this fruit drink for you two, if you don't mind…." She spoke up.

"Thanks, it's just what I needed." Kenji smiled at her while Yuki kept out of the conversation.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The movie had finished and Tohru was still feeling a little flushed around the cheeks from blushing so much. Kyo still had her hand in hers and he was smiling inside knowing that he had gotten the girl of his dreams to admit that she liked him.

"Where do you want to go?" Kyo asked.

"If you don't mind, I would like to go to the photo booth." Tohru pointed to the bright coloured photo booth outside of the theatre. If today was real, then she wanted to keep it as a memory by having photos that she could keep inside her wallet everyday.

"Ok…. " Kyo didn't really like photos but he still followed her inside and he slipped a coin inside the slot and waited.

10 minutes later, the photos came out and Tohru gladly kept it inside her wallet as promised. Kyo chose to take her out to dinner because it was already 7:30pm and tomorrow they were going to Rome already.

"So….have you been enjoying the trip so far Kyo?" Tohru asked as her meal arrived.

"Yea…I guess, I just hate that hotel lift and that darn Eiffel Tower now. If they don't get those fixed, more people could get hurt or worse, they could die."

"Yes, we were lucky to escape from the lift and I'm glad that you were there to rescue me when I was hanging off the side of the tower. Without you, I might've…uhh….."

"Don't say that Tohru, even if I wasn't there, I'm sure you'd be okay." Kyo interrupted.

"Well…so, do you think that their okay?"

"Who? Karina?"

"Yea…I mean, I shouldn't be saying this but I couldn't help but overhear their conversation the night before and I have a feeling something is going to happen."

"Oh…you mean that….right umm…As much as I'd like to help my sister and her love-life issues. I'm no expert at these things and also, I think they need to sort it out for themselves, I mean, I'm not trying to be self-centred, what I'm saying is that we can't really help them with these problems because, it's something that they have to deal with and learn from ya know?"

"You are right, Kyo. This is none of my business but…do you think….that…"

"What?"

"That Y-Yuki likes Karina?"

"Holy…. That damn rat and his emotions? I have no clue."

"Oh well. I suppose we better start eating then."

"Yea sure."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Yuki, I really really apologise." Karina finally got to find a room to themselves as she clenched her fists and looked at Yuki in agony.

"For what?"

"Kenji, he hates you, this is my entire fault, and it's all turning into a disaster, I mean, he never talks like that. Kenji, he's a nice guy and I like him a lot but I've never seen him so…threatening towards anyone and it just doesn't make sense."

"Oh right….Karina, it's okay, I can handle it."

"No Yuki, I don't want this to happen anymore. I just…I gotta tell him."

"About what?"

"What he needs to hear from me." Karina sighed and started to worry.

"You mean…."

"Yes, I have to tell him that….we can't carry on as a couple."

"So….you're saying that you are going to break up with him."

"Thank you for defining that well." Karina replied sarcastically.

"Sorry."

"I just don't know what I'm going to do. I don't have the guts to tell him that, nor do I think that I can break up with him just like that."

"Oh…"

"Our relationship took so much effort and what am I doing? I'm throwing it all away. From the moment I laid eyes on him back then till now, this is the result, it's me, I'm stupid enough to let go of what we've been through. I feel like such an idiot."

"Karina, I'm sure he'll understand."

"Whatever, it's not that easy don't you realise? He…will be heartbroken and I will be feeling the same when I tell him the truth. But who knows? He could be storming after you and holding a grudge against you for the rest of your wonderful life." Karina paced around in circles non-stop.

"Let me summarize all that for you. I just CAN'T tell him." She continued.

"Karina, we will figure something out okay?"

"We will? We will? I'm sorry, did I just hear you say 'we'? There is no 'we' there is no 'us', it's just me, it's my problem, my issue and I'm going to deal with it some way, somehow…..You can stay here and watch if you like, but let me tell you something, I'm not going to drag you into this."

"Karina, why can't you just let me help?"

"Because I don't depend on others and I don't need to." Karina was acting a bit stubborn.

"Sometimes, you have to, and it'll feel better if you do. Being independent isn't everything you know? Seeing you panic like this is just….really….I don't know but I feel useless sitting here and watching you walk around in circles repeating the same sentences when all I can do is agree or….give a small amount of encouragement." Yuki looked at her.

"Well, just hold on a little longer okay? Because I'm going to have a nice moonlight walk with Kenji right now before the cruise ends and I think, you'll just have to deal with feeling a little useless for a while." Karina closed the door behind her and went to search for Kenji.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back in the hotel room, Kyo and Tohru waited for the others to arrive back. Now it was 9pm and apparently the cruise was due to finish in an hour. Half of Tohru's hair started to go back straight again and Kyo's top buttons were undone on his jacket. It was quite late and every shop was closing down for the day. Akito and Amaya didn't exactly say what they were doing and the streets were quiet.

"Kyo, I think I better go to bed now, I know it's a little early but…I'm tired and I need to clean this make-up off my face."

"Yea ok. Do what you want." Kyo replied casually.

"Well…thanks for accompanying me to the movies and I enjoyed the dinner very much."

"It's nothing, goodnight."

"Umm yes sweet dreams."

"Tohru wait!" He called for her last minute.

"Yes?"

"Just…incase you haven't noticed. Yes, I do….l-l-l-like you."

"I'm glad." Tohru smiled warmly and softly closed the door behind her as she felt her heart beating fast.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So, did you like the roses?" Kenji and Karina walked around the cruise hand in hand under the moonlight as Karina had mentioned to Yuki.

"Yea, thanks, they were gorgeous."

"Umm K.S?" Kenji suddenly took her into a warm embrace.

"What is it K.Y?"

"I…love you, you know that….right?" Kenji said, somehow it sounded sad.

"Yea of course I do."

"But….d-d-do you….love me?" Kenji looked at her like he was fearing the worst.

Karina didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry to ask you that….but it's just that you've….never actually said that to me and, I'm just not sure if….if…" He didn't get to finish his sentence when he heard Karina crying.

"I-I-I wish….I could…… say the same ……thing to you…..but…..I just…can't, I'm….sorry Kenji." Karina admitted with shame.

"Karina? Why?"

"I d-don't know."

"But you said that you liked me back then in college?" His embrace loosened.

"I did like you…about that bit…I wasn't lying." Karina said still in tears.

"I don't get it….what happened?" Kenji felt like crying too.

"I really hoped that I knew the answer to that question. I've asked myself that a hundred times, Yuki also asked me and now you. But the truth is, it just happened…it just faded….I thought that we were great, we were a couple, it was perfect, but it wasn't. I drifted away from you without knowing it and I just….can't say those three words to you anymore. Maybe, if it meant something else but I just don't….love you the way I did before."

"Karina…"

"I'm so…. so…. sorry Kenji. I never intended to hurt you like this, I never wanted to and I still hate saying this all to you at once. I know that you care for me and that you love me a lot, and that means so much to me….but it's something that can't work its magic anymore. I…..I can't be your girlfriend anymore because if I do, it will mean breaking your heart even more if we get closer……. I'm sorry…." Karina let go and ran off.

The normal Kenji would run after her….but not this one, this Kenji was the heartbroken one and he too, was in tears of emotional pain. He leant on the railing and cried, cried till the cruise stopped.

Karina didn't see anyone, not even Yuki. They all made it back to the hotel on their own, in their own separate ways and back to their rooms.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Next morning…_

Once again, they boarded the plane to Rome. You could imagine the difference from when they boarded in Japan and now. This time, Karina sat on the edge next to her brother who was the only one she could talk to apart from Tohru. On the right of Kyo was actually Yuki who was next to Tohru and last of all, Kenji on the other edge. It was the strangest plane journey and nobody felt like talking about anything.

Tohru and Kyo suspected that something had gone wrong on the cruise and they knew it the moment they saw Karina and Kenji's tear-stained face the next day. Even Yuki didn't know the whole story but he knew for one fact that Kenji and Karina had told their side of their story to each other and in return, received a break-up, the end of their relationship and the end of what was thought to be the 'perfect couple' (aside from Kyo and Tohru, their the best!!!)

"Hey Karina, is everything alright? I mean…I know, something must've happened between…." Kyo handed her a tissue.

"We…broke up…." Karina whispered.

"Yea…I thought so….are you okay?"

"You should be asking Kenji that question. After all, he's more torn apart than me. I was the one who did this to him, to the both of us and somehow got Yuki involved as well." Karina explained.

"Yea but you're my sister, so I should be more concerned about you than that damn rat anyway so don't worry about him….and as for Kenji, he just needs time to recover and think it through….that's all." Kyo tried his best to cheer her up.

"Umm….well what about you….how did your date go?"

"It was okay. And don't change the subject, Karina, you need to talk to Kenji, you can't avoid him forever…."

"I know, I will, when he's ready, I'll be waiting for him so we can sort this out."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Rome, it's beautiful!!" Tohru exclaimed in excitement.

Eventually, they had gotten there and their hotel was next to the seaside or…a small beach which was really nice. Karina had lightened up a little and was trying to have fun, but still avoided eye contact with Kenji and she hardly talked to Yuki either. But then again, Kenji wasn't even communicating to anyone and especially Yuki. He felt a little ball of hatred towards Yuki because he knew that part of Karina's decision was because of her love for Yuki even if she hadn't realised it, the result was very clear and obvious to Kenji himself.

"Hey Kenji!" Kyo called out to him.

"Even if it didn't work out, you'll forgive her right? You two will stay as friends?" Kyo asked.

"Who knows, I just can't believe that she said all that to me last night…."

"Karina's an honest person, she wouldn't lie to you."

"I know that she's honest, I know you're her half sibling but for your information, I've known her longer than you have and I know her more than you do, so if you're trying to make me feel better by talking about her to me, please don't." Kenji snapped and walked away in a bad mood. He even went to Akito and requested a room for himself rather than with Yuki and Kyo.

Kyo did as well and he didn't wish to share a room with the 'damn rat' although so far on the trip, he hadn't been arguing with Yuki that much. Maybe their relationship had improved a slight inch or more. But Akito said that the hotel was booked full so they had to stick with what they had. The four rooms for the boys, the girls, Amaya herself and Akito.

_For the next few days, Rome was wasted away with a saddened Kenji, a silent Yuki, a hidden Karina, an optimistic Tohru and a worried Kyo. Nothing much happened, they visited the coliseum and walked around the ancient city and the fountains but hardly any smiles were seen on anybody's face but Tohru's._

_Akito didn't leave any plans for Spain either because he wanted to keep the suspicions out while he and Amaya would choose the next big 'accidents' for Switzerland (their last destination) _

A/N: Okay I know, it wasn't all sugar and spice but oh well, Spain's next but Switzerland is going to be the main thing on this trip and sorry if Rome was rushed because I didn't want to focus on the break up too much so I just gave it a briefing. Thank you all for reading and bearing with the emotional torture towards these characters. …..Yea, that's me, sad huh? Lol

Please kindly leave a review if you have time!

+Angelite Phoenix


	14. Chapter 14: Luminous

A/N: Yay, I managed to update faster this week. But now I gotta do my piano theory sob Briefing on this chapter: Well there's action and weird things going on…allsorts…..Oh and again, mild swearing in this chapter because of Amaya and Akito. This time, its inverted, there's a couple in….madness and a couple in…heaven…kinda… One more thing, woohoo, I finally bet my score and now it's 5000 words…!!! Go me!! hehe…. Well here are the replies to my favourite reviewers and readers!!

**Fanfiction:**

Mischievouz Angel: Hey Kimmy-chan!! Yea I get your point, haha, don't know whether to be happy or not after reading that chapter huh? Oh and don't forget about your one true love….lol I won't mention it on ff, don't worry! Oh and your idea has really helped with my story, Tnk.Q.!

Daelaeyni- Thanks, I'll do my best! - 

--4EVAFURUBA--: Gee you really think so? Thanks a lot! And yea Akito, well…maybe it's just me because I made him this evil…whoops.

Kyo4Tohru: Thank you for your reviews! I'm thrilled to know that you love my pairing decisions. And yes it's most likely that Karina will end up with Yuki as I've mentioned earlier.

Moonflower: Well for Kyo and Tohru, their on their way to a sweet and loyal relationship and as for the others…hmm, you'll see later in this chapter! Hehe, thanks for da review! Hav a great week.

**Mediaminer:**

Silverwolf: Hehe I'm not sure if this was an error or not but ur review only came up with the letter 'I'. But don't worry, thank you anyway.

**Chapter 14: Luminous**

A few days have passed, Rome was basically wasted (ignoring Tohru's enthusiasm) and they had spent a day in Spain. Amaya had suggested a strange place to go, because of her flirtatious mood recently, she chose to go clubbing and decided to pull everyone along with her. Akito didn't approve but he had no choice but to let Amaya have a little bit of a good time since she had a tough assignment in the next destination. They arrived in the club Especia (Spice, lame name I know, but it was a random idea) and sat down in one of the corner seats while Amaya went off to the bar and started a conversation with a stranger sitting next to her that she considered 'hot'.

Akito shook his head in embarrassment. She had obviously forgotten her role as his fiancée. He told the others to enjoy themselves as he went off and bought a drink for himself.

"Umm….Kyo?" Tohru spoke.

"Yea Tohru?"

"Do you want to…go and dance….because I uhh…."

"Whatever, but I'm a terrible dancer." Kyo went along with it as they left the 'threesome with love issues' behind by themselves.

Kenji didn't say anything; he completely ignored the other two and went outside.

"Umm…Karina, I think you should go and talk to him, you haven't spoken to each other in nearly 5 days and if it continues then it'll get worse."

"I know…but I don't know what to say to him." She sighed.

"Just go after him."

" …..Okay…." She followed Kenji's figure and met him outside as Yuki sat there by himself, trying hard not to mock Kyo's terrible dancing skills.

_At the bar_

"So do you come here often?" The man asked Amaya as she fluttered her eyelashes.

"Well…."

"Amaya." Akito called out in a powerful tone as she pretended to ignore him. He pulled off her expensive necklace as a warning sign.

"Shit, that was my 40,000 diamond necklace, what do you want?" Amaya turned around and snatched it back.

"Come with me." Akito took her hand.

"Hey, is he bothering you?" The man she was flirting with took action.

"Stay away from my fiancée! " Akito punched the guy in the face and ran off with Amaya.

"What the hell are you thinking?" She shouted when they were out of the crowd.

"What the hell were _you_ thinking, flirting with a random guy when we're meant to act as a couple getting engaged, they could get suspicious and our plan could fail!?" Akito shouted back.

"Well I don't give a damn about the plan, I control my life, not you!"

"You're a useless assassin, you know that?"

"Shut the hell up!! I QUIT!" Amaya turned her back on the enraged Akito and swung her handbag over the shoulder as she walked out of the club with flaming cheeks.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Meanwhile…_

"Kenji, Wait, can we please talk." Karina reached out for his hand and stopped him.

Kenji once again, didn't say anything; he just stared at the ground.

"Kenji…"

"Karina, what is there to talk about? We aren't a couple anymore, it's just like the start, I don't know you and you don't know me, what more do you want from me?" He avoided eye contact with her.

"I can't say I'm sorry because I know that won't be enough but I need you to know that even though we aren't….really together anymore, I still care about you, I love you as a friend, just not the other kind of…love…but the question is…can you accept that? Or are you just gonna get hurt every time you see me because if that is the case, then I think…it's stupid. I mean, I understand that I was being a terrible girlfriend back in Paris but….I just needed you to know the truth because I couldn't lie to you. But it seriously doesn't mean that I don't want to be friends." She explained.

"It's…..it's hard, I don't know Karina, because….I'm still…..I still love you and you can't just expect me to fall out of love for you this quickly…I mean, that's…impossible….." Kenji looked away and leaned against the wall.

"I know…and that's why I found it hard to break up with you, cos I knew that it'd hurt you big time. Oh, I almost forgot, here's a gift…Just because we've had an argument or something, I would never forget your birthday." She handed him a wrapped box.

"You remembered?" He asked surprised since he had forgotten himself.

"Of course…but hey, if you don't wanna have anything to do with me anymore, I can totally understand why but please don't hate me because I just don't want it to end like this…okay? Just….just think it through but remember Kenji, you still mean a lot to me and you're an important friend." She gave him a encouraging smile and walked back inside the club.

"I would never hate you." Kenji whispered as soon as she disappeared from his sight.

"The one I hate is Yuki…"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Yuki's POV  
_

_I know she and Kenji are having a hard time over their break up…but…I just have this strange feeling every time I see her hurt…I mean, I think I do like her…a lot but I can't say anything because, it'll just be too soon right after what happened. And yet, I don't even quite know if she likes me or not…it's difficult, I thought she did, but lately she's been avoiding me as well, not just Kenji. I can't possibly have done anything wrong, or at least, I don't think I have. I hope sometime, she'll start talking to me again and when she's comfortable, I'll tell her…how I feel. But until that time comes, I just…have to be alone and work my way out of this hole._

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Kyo, you're actually good at dancing, you're getting better." Tohru laughed.

"Umm…I learned from the best." Kyo blushed and didn't know what else to say.

"Kyo!" He heard Akito's voice call from behind with Yuki beside him.

"What's up?"

"We're leaving now, go get Karina and whatever his name is and we're going back to the hotel, if you'd like a spare room, you are welcome to take Amaya's." Akito ordered.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So Akito…mind explaining what's going on?" Kyo asked as Kenji took the spare room that used to be Amaya's.

"We got divorced, simple as that, I'm going to bed early, goodnight."

"But wait, what happened?"

"That woman is nothing but a bitch, want more details?" Akito shot them an angry glance.

"Uhh…"

"Goodnight then." He slammed his hotel room door.

"Talk about anger management." Kyo murmured.

"Funny how _you_ should be saying that." Yuki commented.

"No I think Akito's just…sad because, he was in a perfect relationship and now it's all ruined because of some reason, I hope their okay, Amaya and Akito-san." Tohru sympathised the pair.

"They were merely dating for less than 3 weeks, how is that a perfect relationship? Personally to me, it seems like as if it were an arranged marriage or something cos I've never even seen them do something nice to each other, not once." Karina muttered.

"Yea well forget it, I couldn't care less, let's get something to eat, I'm starved." Kyo replied.

They ended up having Tohru's cooking for dinner; it was after all, Kyo's idea because apparently, he was sick of having Spanish food even though he hadn't tried a lot of it. Tohru suggested that they try Karina's but she refused instantly. Who knew what could happen if they tried _her _cooking. Akito had dinner on his own…he knew now that coming here was basically throwing all his cash away, he had no assassin and furthermore he had learnt a lesson, it was that you could only trust yourself and never rely on others to do the work for you.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_3 days later, they got to the last part of their so-called vacation. Switzerland. Beautiful alpine trees everywhere and snow covered every single mountain. It was obvious that they were going to do some skiing here or even try walking through the vast forest that surrounded the borders of the country. It was typical that the lodge was situated high up in the mountains; they had to take the cable car up to their room while their luggages were piled onto a tough 4WD truck. Akito had reassured them that his sudden divorce was nothing but a useless engagement gone wrong and often kept them off the subject of Amaya. Funnily enough, he thought he'd spotted her on the flight but wasn't too sure, but then again, a woman like her wouldn't never sit on economy class and wear green and purple at the same time._

_Karina was desperate to get into to snow, so Akito went off to get coffee in the lounge. Now that his plan had failed, there was absolutely nothing he could do but pretend to enjoy the holiday. After his coffee, he had decided to try skiing, one little bit of strange fun couldn't hurt. He hired his gear and took off in the chairlift on his own; he could even see the five some up in front of him. Kyo was sitting with Tohru, Karina was next on her own, then Yuki, then Kenji. Akito didn't usually get the time nor have the interest to take a look around and admire what tourists would pay to see but this time, he did. He watched every snowflake pass by him and he forgot the reason why he was here in the first place. He had never gotten this feeling before; it was like, the feeling of joy. And without coming here, he wouldn't have been able to experience it._

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On the other side of the mountain, Tohru and co had already gotten started to the whole skiing routine. They slipped on their goggles and put on their hats, then decided which route they would take. Kenji had taken off already on his snowboard on the expert slope since his gold-medallist sportsmanship was still in him. Tohru wanted to go to the easy beginners slope because she'd never been skiing before, and of course, what can you expect but Kyo to follow eagerly which left Yuki and Karina to try out the intermediate slope. Karina knew she would've preferred the expert course and the snowboarding but then it would leave Yuki to ski alone and no offence, but he was no professional at skiing so she tried to teach him just like the other day at the Winter Festival, when she tried to teach him ice-skating.

_Kenji's POV_

He had hoped that maybe there was a chance of Karina still loving him. He went down the expert slope, dodging the trees and the rocks and when he reached the finish line…..so he waited, then waited, and waited for a miracle to come, for Karina to appear but no. He had high expectations and he knew what was happening. Instead of sticking to her own level, she had gone with that Yuki in the easy intermediate level. He felt a bit hurt, but then again, he just left without saying anything to anyone.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kyo and Tohru waited on top of the mountain. Kyo was trying to calm her down as she looked down and freaked. Even though this was the beginners, she couldn't help but feel nervous because of the speed of the other people that went by. They had been up there for almost…15 minutes, standing there like idiots. Kyo had to admit, he was a little bit scared but of course, he would never show it in front of Tohru.

"Come on Tohru, you can do it. I'm sure the others are all waiting for us down there by now, don't you think? I mean it'll be all over once you step onto that slope." Kyo smiled.

"Oh ….ok." Tohru looked determined all of a sudden and pushed herself forward when Kyo pulled her back.

"Kyo?"

"Did you hear that bang?" Once again, his ears alerted the danger around him and he gasped as he saw an explosion in the mountain next to the intermediate slope above him. He quickly took her hand and sprinted to the chairlifts where he could get a lift to the other side in safety.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Great, about time I got off here on this stupid chairlift.' Akito thought as he breathed in the cold fresh air until he saw an explosion of smoke near the second mountain. It was the mountain that he and Amaya had planned on bombing in order to cause an avalanche right when the others were going down the slopes so they could get killed, but why? Why was it making such a loud noise like there was truly a bomb inside? And then he realised. That woman he saw in the plane, was indeed Amaya Natsume.

She had double-crossed him once he fired her and used his plan to kill everyone, Kyo, Tohru and even himself. Now that he thought about it, he didn't want anyone to die anymore; he felt a strong sense of guilt and started to panic. He spotted Tohru and Kyo on the chairlift on the way back. They obviously hadn't seen him but they were at least safe. But Kenji, Karina and Yuki however might've not been in the safest spot of the mountain. He looked around and searched for a sight of them, but it seemed that they had already gone down.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kenji started making his way up the mountain again when he heard a bang. He turned to look up and saw smoke, it wasn't a volcano erupting but it had appeared to be a strong explosion. He turned away and threw his snowboard on the ground, then made a dash to another area as he found a snow mobile hanging around and he simply took off in it. He was too worried about Karina to care about whose engine it was. He knew he wouldn't be able to find her in time since she was helping Yuki get down as well. Kenji hit the brakes and soon felt someone grabbing him around the arm. Akito was taking him onto the chairlift and dragging him off without the two left on the mountain.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Yuki, you're doing great, just hold on a minute while I get my camera." Karina reached for her backpack and rummaged through it when Yuki grabbed her hand.

She looked up and saw what he was looking at. She had seen one of those before, in movies, but not in real life. Quickly, she stuffed her camera back into her bag, slipped the backpack on and looked at Yuki who had turned white.

"Yuki, we have to go down, really fast and I mean, fast! We need to find somewhere safe from the snow that can block off the avalanche and give us shelter at the same time."

"Karina, what's going on."

"IT'S AN AVALANCHE, NOW GET MOVING." She tugged on his sleeve and went down the mountain at full speed. Luckily Yuki was barely catching on beside her as she held his hand down the rocky side. Somehow, they had ended up on the expert slope accidentally. Karina shook her head and adjusted her goggles, then focused on the hole in the hill below her. It was a few hundred metres ahead and she didn't dare turn around, for the snow could be right behind her ankles in no time.

She skidded across the sharp turn and almost fell but was saved by a nearby standing tree and continued on towards the hole. Karina knew that she could use the hole as a shelter or a cave to shield her from the snow.

As she reached the cave, she gave Yuki a signal to crawl inside after her. Once they were in the cave-like hole in the mountain, with his help, they grabbed a random large rock lying on the floor and blocked the hole so that the snow couldn't come in. She closed her eyes and breathed out as she heard the snow and felt the avalanche coming down seconds after. They were lucky to have survived such a narrow escape. The good thing was….that they were safe…and alive. The bad thing was…that they were trapped. And who knew for how long.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Why'd you do that?" Kenji snapped at Akito as they landed on the other side, safe from the destruction.

"I had to, Kenji, you knew I had no other choice. If you stood there for another minute, you could've been killed." Akito said, and actually this time, he wasn't lying.

"Well, have you ever considered the fact that Karina and _that_ Yuki are also on the other side."

"Kenji, I'm no superhero, I only did what I could." Akito answered bluntly, he was also a bit amused that Kenji had called Yuki…'that' Yuki.

"Oh yea? If you had let me go, then maybe there might've been a chance that I could find them."

"AKITO." Kyo shouted from afar.

"Yes Kyo, We're all safe, but we're not so sure about the other two. They seemed to take a different route at the time of the avalanche." Akito replied.

"Oh dear, what's going to happen to them…I hope their okay." Tohru squeezed Kyo's hand.

"Damn, how did that avalanche thing start anyway?" Kyo questioned as Akito kept silent. It was too late to confront Amaya now; she had probably run off to a secret place or something.

"If anything happens to _her_, I swear, I won't be leaving this place and neither will you!!" Kenji threatened Akito up close and stomped off with a tremendous headache.

"Yea, he's right; my sister doesn't deserve any of this, she better be alive!" Kyo walked off as well leaving Tohru to face Akito.

"Akito….I think we should be doing something. Perhaps we could call the police or have a search party, I have faith in Yuki and Karina, I think they still might be okay, what do you think?" Tohru asked calmly.

"I will try my best but if we don't find them…then…"

"Then at least I know that you have tried your best Akito-san. Thank you." Tohru turned around and went to look for Kyo.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"God it's chilly in here." Karina threw her coat over her shoulders and attempted to make a fire. Fortunately the cave was much bigger than the lift in the hotel in Paris, which meant that she didn't have to fear being claustrophobic in this area. She turned to look at Yuki who looked like he was having a heart attack.

"Yuki, what's wrong?" She crawled over to him and felt his forehead.

"My-…my i-inhaler." Yuki pointed to his backpack.

"Shoot, you have asthma? Why the hell didn't I know that?" She said out loud as she rummaged through his bag and found the inhaler, handing it to Yuki.

"Thanks." He whispered and lay against a rock, obviously quite tired.

"So…here we are, stuck in a cave after a mysterious avalanche...my day is officially getting worse." Karina pouted and looked around for a way to get out.

"Karina, you're a great skier you realise? I'd be like…under that thick pile of snow right now if it weren't for you pulling me along, and how did you go that fast? You should enter the competitions or something. Perhaps represent our country Japan at the Olympic Games." Yuki said, changing the subject after finding the chance to breathe again.

"Umm…well haha, I wouldn't go that far, but yea I use to be on captain of the ski team at my old school along with Kenji…we won a few medals and it was fun while it lasted."

"You know, I didn't realise that you were good at sports until I heard Kenji say it, you've never talked about it much at Kaibara high nor do you attend sports there either…"

"It's because…I wanted to focus on my studies, so I gave up on my passion for sport, just for a year though, to see what it was like, but now I know, I can NOT live in the world of books and A grades, I have to go back to the place where I belong, in the beautiful sports planet….right?"

"Sure, it sounds good, as long as you're happy in the sports planet." Yuki smiled.

"Uhh Yuki?"

"Yes?"

"Your arm is…scratched or something, it's bleeding." She grabbed her own backpack and searched the inside for a first aid kit.

"Oh…"

"Does it hurt?" She questioned.

"No, I didn't realise until you told me." He replied as she carefully wrapped the bandage around the wound so it wouldn't get infected.

"Okay, I would give you anti-biotics, but it looks okay to me…."

"Karina?"

"But if it hurts, just tell me…" She continued to talk.

"I wanna say something…."

"Because I know how to clean wounds if its infected…"

"I-like-you-a-lot…" Yuki rambled quickly as Karina stopped her talking and stared at him, she thought she knew what he said but she wasn't clear, and if she'd misheard or misunderstood, then a false reaction would just be embarrassing, so she asked him to repeat.

"Can you say that again? I didn't really hear you." She sat next to him.

"Umm…it was nothing…."

"Come on, please, every word you say is important to me and I wanna hear it, so go say it out loud. I don't care if it's a criticism or, whatever, just go!" She grinned.

"I-I…love…." Yuki just couldn't say it, it was way too hard.

Karina felt butterflies at the bottom of her stomach even though he hadn't finished the sentence yet, and still, he didn't. She sat there like a ragged doll feeling embarrassed when she felt something on her lips. She opened her eyes and saw Yuki's eyes really close up. It took her a 'god forbidden' two seconds to realise that he was….kissing her…and was _actually _kissing her this time. She looked around the room, and it was so strange to be kissed by someone with her eyes open. She wanted to scream out and runaway where she could slowly calm down from her strong blush on her cheeks but it'd just make things more complicated.

'_oh god help me, Yuki Sohma is kissing me and I don't know what I'm going to do, I am like…in heaven right? But this is so wrong, I can't say that right after my break up with Kenji…but damn, why does it feel right and yet weird at the same time…ahh….ok, calm down, don't move, just let it happen and it'll all sink in soon.' _Her mind was racing.

When he pulled away, Karina covered her face and hid her wild smile, she felt like crying of joy but it would be far out embarrassing

'_And not to mention, it would make Yuki think that I don't like him….but wait, does that mean I do like him? Oh crap, I didn't realise, is this why Kenji is like that towards him, my gosh, Kenji hates Yuki…because he thinks that Yuki is taking me away from him….but that doesn't make sense because me and Yuki aren't that obvious…are we?'_ she asked herself as she took a peek and saw Yuki facing the other way, he too, was blushing.

"Umm…were you going to say….I love you? To—to---to me?" She dared to ask.

"-……I…..think so…." Yuki was quiet.

"T-thanks Yuki, that's all I wanted to hear." Karina shifted and relaxed a little then embraced Yuki and rested her head on his shoulder as she started to cry happily.

'_How did this happen? It's so absurd. How did I fall out of love for Kenji? How did I fall in love with Yuki? How did he fall in love with me? It all sounds so confusing, but I guess that's just one of the answers that life can't answer.'_

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tohru knocked on Akito's door. They had spent the rest of the day thinking about places they could look for the survivors once the crew had cleaned up the mess that the avalanche had created earlier this afternoon.

"Come in, Tohru." Akito's voice sounded less scary than before and Tohru felt welcome, at last.

"Akito-san, how are you doing?" Tohru knew to speak carefully right after their divorce.

"Fine, if you're talking about Amaya, forget it, she was useless, but Tohru, I know that I- I can't lie to you and Kyo anymore, I have to tell you something…..Take a seat, while I fetch Kyo." Akito told her as she sat down wondering what was going on.

When Kyo arrived, Akito decided to explain to them from the beginning about Amaya's true identity and what they were planning behind the trip. But he knew that Kyo wasn't going to be happy.

"Shit, You, You…you're a murderer." Kyo stood up and pointed a finger at Akito as Tohru sat there, her head feeling like it was going burst.

"Kyo, I apologise strongly."

"And what is an apology gonna do huh? DO you think that an apology will save Karina? Do you think that an apology can let me rest after what you did to us in that lift and when Tohru nearly died from hanging off the Eiffel Tower? I can't stand you!! You disgust me!!" Kyo wanted to punch Akito.

"Kyo, wait…" Before he could finish his sentence, blood was trickling down his mouth.

"I am going to tell Kenji." Tohru went off when Akito stopped her.

"No, you can't, if you tell him, he will be enraged!"

"So he deserves to know, you jerk!" Kyo wanted to go in for another punch but Tohru ran off and blocked Kyo.

"Tohru, what are you doing?" Kyo stopped and hesitated.

"I know, Akito has done such cruel things to us. But killing him will only make us murderers too. And I don't want to follow in their footsteps and make the same mistakes. PLEASE Kyo, let's just leave everything and go back home where we can forget what has happened!" Tohru begged.

"How do you expect me to forget what has happened to my ONLY family member! Apart from you and my master, I have nothing left!! I lost everything, my mother, my sister and that damn curse just makes my days full of misery. My father isn't even a damn human to me, and I am so pissed off because of Akito and being the cat of the zodiac. I'm unloved, unlike everyone else!!!" Kyo knew she had a point, but he wanted to get his message across as well.

"But I LOVE YOU KYO!" Tohru answered and started to cry as Akito couldn't help but feel sorry at what Kyo had just said about losing nearly everything in his life.

"I wanted to protect her…my sister….and because of that frickin' assassin that you hired, I have failed to do what I hoped to achieve!! You…deserve to die, Akito, you don't belong here!! And you better thank Tohru, because of her, I am going to let you off, but you better leave now, because if I ever see your face again, I will kill you!! And do not doubt that Kenji won't either!! And if you ever lay one single finger on Tohru, I will torture you!!!!" Kyo slammed the door in so much rage that you could hear the windows cracking and slowly shattering into small fragments.

Tohru faced Akito who was in tears too. She walked up to him and slapped him hard on the cheek.

"I won't apologise for what I just did, because you have hurt Kyo so much, and now, you're going to hurt Kenji too. I understand how Kyo feels and let me tell you that it is stupid to do such a thing, to take away a loved one from someone. How would you feel if you were no longer god of the zodiac huh? I don't care if Kyo is the cat of the zodiac. Why do you care so much? Kyo is a kind and caring person even if he doesn't show it in front of you. Please, leave us alone Akito-san. And if you see Amaya-san ever again, tell her to go drown herself!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tohru came upon her boyfriend and hugged him, trying her best to cheer him up as he kissed her softly on the forehead. They comforted each other through their grief and although Kyo was still sad, he was happy to hear that Tohru said that she loved him. Kenji had also been notified about Akito by Kyo. And he truly did want to go and kill Akito, but Kyo stopped him, like Tohru had stopped Kyo earlier. All of them had cried, and all of them had shared the same pain. They were unfortunate, including Yuki and Karina. Because they had all lost someone that they loved dearly. Kyo didn't have a family that loved him, Tohru became an orphan a year or more ago, Yuki's parents rejected him, in a way, Karina had passed many parental tragedies and Kenji had recently lost his father in a severe sickness that was unexpected.

(This story kinda reminds me of the chorus of 'all good things come to an end' by Nelly Furtado)

_Honestly what will become of me_

_don't like reality_

_It's way too clear to me_

_But really life is daily_

_We are what we don't see_

_Missed everything daydreaming_

_Chorus_

_Flames to dust_

_Lovers to friends_

_Why do all good things come to an end_

_Flames to dust_

_Lovers to friends_

_Why do all good things come to an end_

_come to an end come to an_

_Why do all good things come to end?_

_come to an end come to an_

_Why do all good things come to an end?_

_Traveling I only stop at exits_

_Wondering if I'll stay_

_Young and restless_

_Living this way I stress less_

_I want to pull away when the dream dies_

_The pain sets in and I don't cry_

_I only feel gravity and I wonder why_

_Chorus_

_Well the dogs were whistling a new tune_

_Barking at the new moon_

_Hoping it would come soon so that they could_

_Dogs were whistling a new tune_

_Barking at the new moon_

_Hoping it would come soon so that they could_

_Die die die die die_

_Chorus_

_Well the dogs were barking at a new moon_

_Whistling a new tune_

_Hoping it would come soon_

_And the sun was wondering if it should stay away for a day til the feeling went away_

_And the sky was falling on the clouds were dropping and_

_the rain forgot how to bring salvation_

_the dogs were barking at the new moon_

_Whistling a new tune_

_Hoping it would come soon so that they could die._

_All of us, have moments of depression. Moments that we cry for, and do not realise that we share the same pain as others beside us. Moments we use to love that have shattered instantly, Moments that have only became a mere memory in our hearts. This is not an epilogue, but all it takes to do is to think, think about those around you and help each other, comfort each other, and appreciate that you have one another when you experience the same situation in life. Appreciate, your life, appreciate your friends._

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Errm…well did u like the little song? Yes I know its sad…

AND If you're wondering what Karina gave to Kenji for his b'day present, she gave him a rubber ducky….

Yea ok, anyone stupid enough to believe that would be at least less than 8 years old.   
So she gave him a photo album filled with pix of when they were small, like a memory ya know?

Again, with my torture towards these characters…aw man, forgive me for that. I've tried to make Akito a lot less evil in this chapter because I've realised that in every story that I've written so far, I've given him a lot of credit for being mean and…the big bully of the whole story. But I think, for once, I'll give him a small chance of letting him shine in one or so chapters.

Reviews please and Thank you! I need a pat on the back for my hard work on 5000 + words…jokes!

Angelite Phoenix


	15. Chapter 15: Unreachabale

**A/N:** Thank you so much for all your encouraging reviews!! You have really helped to motivate me so I can update as soon as I can (after a mild writer's block). Thank you once again!! AND this is NOT the last CHAPTER! So sorry if I confused some of you in the previous chapter.

**Fanfiction:**

Daelaeyni- (receives unlimited pats on the back) THANK YOU! Have a great week!

Kyo4Tohru- Glad you liked the song lyrics…and thanks so much for your review!

anonimous- Haha, thank you for reviewing my story, I'm thrilled to hear that you enjoy it. Don't worry, it's not finished just yet, I've still got some things coming up. And about Yuki and Karina, hehe, I don't think they would go that far just yet, lol, after all, they had just confessed that they like each other. Oh and they don't die, so yea, eventually, everything will workout…somehow… Thanks again!!

Mischevouz Angel- Yup it sounds like ur other review, haha. Thanx Kimmy!

Moonflower- Thanks a lot for your wonderful review!! Hope you enjoy this chapter : )

--4EVAFURUBA--Tnk.Q!! I'm so happy to see that you like my story a lot. You like the emotional writing? Haha, lol. Thx!

**Mediaminer:**

Silverwolf- Yup, evil technology. I'm with u there. Thank you for reviewing!

* * *

**Chapter 15: Unreachable**

The breeze made a horrifying sound outside as Tohru woke up and saw Kyo asleep on the couch beside her. She yawned, then got up and adjusted his bed covers that had fallen off. Then she noticed a letter on top of the table.

_Tohru,  
I'm terribly sorry for what I have done to all of you. I feel extremely guilty and I wish that I could make it up to you.. I have gone off to track Amaya and sort out some things. The search team have already begun with clearing up the snow as I instructed, for any sign of Yuki or Karina and other survivors. Here is 800,000 yen, to keep you and the others going. Do whatever you want with it. But please do not come find me. Once I find Amaya, I will return to Japan. If however, things go wrong and you cannot find Yuki and Karina, you may leave a message on my cell and I will send some money over for you to catch a flight back home to Tokyo. If there are any more problems, you may talk to Hatori on this number and he will help you out, even though he is overseas. Here is his number: 0276-411-9827. Make sure you dial it after the country code as it is an international call. _

_  
Good luck with finding Yuki and Karina, and again, I apologise for my foolishness._

_Take care of Kyo and Kenji._

_  
Yours sincerely…_

_Akito._

Tohru put the letter down and looked at the clock, it was only 4am. She knew that Yuki and Karina couldn't have possibly died, but with no evidence of them alive, she was deeply worried and she could tell that Kyo and Kenji were too. She tried to go back to sleep when she heard Kenji behind her, he was awake.

"Can't sleep?" Kenji asked.

"I found a letter from Akito." Tohru passed him the note.

"That bastard, he's running away and leaving us to dig Yuki and Karina's grave." Kenji looked cold and angry.

"Kenji, I'm sure their alive. I believe that Karina is smart enough to somehow….perhaps protect herself from the avalanche." Tohru replied as he threw the letter into the rubbish bin.

"I just…wanted her to know that I don't have any grudges against Yuki anymore and that I would never hate her. If she's dead, I just don't want to think of her saddened because she reckons that I still despise her for what happened." Kenji clenched his fists.

Tohru was going to reply when she heard a door close. She turned around to find the couch empty, it looked like Kyo had gone outside, and the letter was no longer inside the bin. She followed him and saw that he was having an 'anger management' moment and he looked like he needed Tohru's healing.

"Kyo wait…" She touched his shoulder as he shivered. It was freezing in the early hours of the morning.

"I'm going to help that damn Akito and track down that bitch, then I'm going to kill her, then I'm going to send Akito to jail!"

"Kyo, please…we'll figure something out okay? If we can stay here for at least 2 weeks in search of Yuki and Karina, and if we can't find them, then we'll…have to go back to Japan like Akito said. But please forget about Amaya-san for now. We just need to be careful with ourselves okay? I don't want anyone else getting hurt." She explained as Kyo stood still.

"Come on, let's just go get a hot chocolate with Kenji in the lounge and we'll talk it through…okay?" Tohru suggested as she stroked Kyo's cheek lightly.

"Fine."

* * *

Yuki searched through his bag and eventually found a matchstick as he lit a fire using the sticks inside the cave. It was 6am, but the frozen temperature woke him up. Once the fire started to warm the area, he took off his ski-jacket and placed it on top of Karina in case she was cold. He then found his cell-phone and checked if there was any service. But it didn't work, since they were no where near the lodge.

"Yuki?" Karina sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"I'm here." Yuki went to her side and held her hand.

"Uhh…what time is it?"

"Only 6am. Are you hungry?" He asked.

"Kinda….Is there anything here?"

"Yea, there's a few snack bars…uhh some chocolate, and a pack of chips and a 800ml bottle of water. That's about it." Yuki emptied his backpack.

"I'll take a snack bar then."

"Umm….Karina, about last night…"

"Spit it out Yuki." Karina bit her snack bar and casually listened.

"Even though…we…kissed….are you okay…with it?"

"What do you mean?" Karina held her snack bar still.

"I mean…are you okay with everything…even though, you broke up with Kenji."

"I…I only realised…last night….the reason why Kenji was mad at you…and the reason why I broke up with him…It was because…when you came into my life Yuki, I saw things that I wouldn't normally see…and I began to understand stuff a lot more. I…discovered that I left Kenji because I had…fallen….for….you….and I didn't know that until Kenji told me himself. But I kept avoiding you because…I thought that you…l-loved….Tohru….I know, it sounds stupid, because she's with Kyo now, but I dunno…it just…seemed that way." Karina looked away.

"I'm sorry if I made you feel that way. But like you said, Kyo and Tohru are together now. And my relationship with her is just casual good friends. She's friendly to everyone…but she's loving towards Kyo…so, No, I am not in love with her. I'm in love with you, and just like you, I have been confused about my emotions for a while. But thanks to Akito for taking on us on this trip, I know how I feel, and I know how you feel as well. So I'm sorry if I confused you."

Karina couldn't help but smile at the pile of words that Yuki had just said. She broke off half of her snack bar and handed it to Yuki.

"Wow…I feel so lucky right now…hehe anyway, Want some?"

"Haha…thanks." Yuki gladly took it and moved next to her.

"I wonder what the others are doing right now." Karina asked.

"Probably trying to look for us, I hope." Yuki answered shortly.

"Okay…there must be a way to get out of here, I'm sure of it." Karina stood up and searched the room as Yuki attempted to help her out.

"Yuki, can you perhaps remove the rock that was blocking the snow yesterday? Because I think they would've cleaned up the mess by now. So all we have to do is dig our way through and maybe we'll be able to get out of here." Karina said.

"Sure." Yuki pushed the rock away as a small pile of snow came rushing in.

"Alright, now let's grab the ski equipment and try to force our way through the remaining snow." She took her backpack and scanned the room for anything that she might've left behind.

"All clear, shall we?"

"Go ahead Yuki."

A few minutes passed and amazingly, the people had done some work on removing the snow, so luckily, it wasn't as thick as they imagined it to be. Once they had gotten to the surface and seen a bit of the sunlight, Karina screamed with joy and grinned at Yuki who smiled back. They had managed to stay the night in a small cave and now, they were back outside.

* * *

While having their hot chocolates, Kyo received a call on his cell-phone.

"Hello?"

"KYO!!!" Karina shouted.

"What? Karina? Is that you?" He asked shocked as Kenji choked on his biscuit.

"Duh, who else?"

"You're alive?"

"No I'm not, you're talking to an angel." Karina replied sarcastically.

"I thought…you were dead." A huge weight was lifted off his shoulders as he relaxed and smiled at Tohru.

"Thank you for the compliment."

"Umm…sorry, I mean, where are you now? How did you…"

"Woah, hold it there, okay we managed to find a phone booth on the other side of the town since the chairlifts were broken, I'm afraid we can't get over to the lodge till it's fixed. And don't worry, we've found a café where we can eat breakfast." She answered.

"That's great…umm, you won't believe what the three of us went through last night." Kyo sighed.

"Why, what happened?"

As Kyo explained to her about Akito's confession, Karina had to share the phone with Yuki so they could both hear.

"Shoot! That bad?"

"Yea…that bastard and that bitch are now off in their own lala land." Kyo joked.

"Damn."

Before Kyo could reply, Kenji snatched the phone, thrilled to hear that Karina was alive.

"Karina! Are you alright?"

"Kenji? Oh umm….yea, me and Yuki are fine."

"I'm so happy that you're safe."

"Yea…me too."

"You really scared me back then! How'd you survive that avalanche?"

"Umm…I'll tell you later, but right now, I'm running out of money for my phone card."

"Oh…"

"Sorry gotta go, I'll meet you sometime in the afternoon. Love ya bye!"

"…Bye.." Kenji closed the phone and handed it back to Kyo.

"That's wonderful news!" Tohru exclaimed, clapping her hands together.

"Yea, I just wonder how their gonna get across." Kyo rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure they'll fix the chairlifts soon." Kenji answered.

* * *

"You know, I can't wait till we go back to Japan, not that I wanna go to school or anything. I guess I just miss home." Karina and Yuki were walking with hands held around the new town area. With nothing to do for the remaining few hours, the only thing they could do was check this town out.

"Yes, that would make sense. Although I would choose to come here than see that brother of mine any day." Yuki replied.

"You really hate your brother that much? I mean, me and Kyo have a good relationship. But…why?"

"He's self-absorbed, that's the best definition there is." Yuki laughed.

"Uh huh, I see. Well I wanna meet someday, he sounds…interesting." Karina teased.

"Uhh Karina?" Yuki felt her hand tighten and her eyes looked like they were flaming. He tried to stop her, but it was too late, she was already dashing off, in a fast sprint, he realised what she was aiming for. Behind the clearing of alpine trees, there stood Amaya talking on a cell-phone.

"Karina! Wait up!" Yuki called out as he ran straight after her.

'I can't let her get away, not after what she did to us.' Karina thought as she reached Amaya.

"YOU BITCH!!!" Karina swore at Amaya as she tested her special kick on Amaya that Kyo had taught her a year ago.

Amaya however, had quick reflexes as obviously, she had a lot of experience. She dodged Karina's kick, dropped her cell-phone and got out her own personal weapon. Yuki stopped in his tracks and felt a rush of Goosebumps creep up his arm.

"Karina watch out, she's got a gun!" Yuki yelled as Amaya fired a shot quickly but missed.

"No one, messes with me!!!" Amaya reloaded her gun and tried to focus.

"You nearly killed us!!" Karina tried to snatch the gun off Amaya.

"I was doing you a favour, you worthless cow, if I hadn't killed you, Akito would've sooner or later. Get a grip of yourself, you wanted to come to this trip right? Now you get what you want!" Amaya tripped Karina over and pinned her to the ground as Yuki punched her from behind.

"Let. Her. Go." Yuki said slowly while blood trickled down Amaya's lip.

"How dare you." Amaya retrieved her gun and aimed it at Karina who was trying to get up. Yuki stood in front of Karina and blocked her.

"You're cute, but not cute enough to live." Amaya laughed an evil laugh and fired.

Karina screamed, thinking that Amaya had actually shot Yuki when she still felt him breathing next to her. He was on the ground. Still trying to protect her, but no signs of Yuki being hurt. When Karina looked at Amaya, she realised that Akito had come and he now had the gun in his hand and he was threatening to use it on Amaya if she didn't co-operate.

"Akito?" Karina stuttered as she hugged Yuki who looked pale.

"Karina, Yuki, Get out of here now, go fetch the police. I'll deal with her" Akito ordered.

"But…"

"GO."

"Come on." Yuki nodded then took Karina away.

"Who asked you to come to Switzerland huh?" Akito sneered at Amaya.

"Who'd wanna waste such a good bomb?" Amaya replied coldly.

"Damn you." Akito kicked her in the stomach as she fell to the ground unconscious.

* * *

"Are you okay? Are you hurt" Yuki asked, checking her arm for scratches.

"Yuki, don't worry about me, I'm fine. We need to get the town's security officers." Karina smiled at him.

"Ok." Yuki agreed as they headed towards the information centre.

* * *

"Tohru! Kenji! The chairlifts look like their working." Kyo looked through the window.

"Well let's hurry up and get over there." Kenji ran outside.

"I'm coming!" Tohru followed.

* * *

"Security, put your hands in the air." The chief officer called out to Akito who was guarding Amaya.

"Hey, I'm not the villain here." Akito ignored his sense of guilt and pointed to the still unconscious Amaya.

"Sir, I'm afraid you'll have to come with us. We got a call about attempted murder, and we need to interrogate you."

"Whatever." Akito got into the police car.

* * *

"So do you think Akito will get charged with anything?" Yuki questioned.

"Most likely. I didn't mention anything to the officers though. Because even though he tried to kill us, at the end, he did save our lives. And I'm grateful for that because if you got shot back there, I'd probably be shot two seconds after you." Karina put on a disgusted look.

"Hey isn't that Kyo?" Yuki pointed to a bright orange haired guy running towards them.

"Kyo!" Karina embraced him, followed by Tohru then Kenji who held her for the longest.

"I'm so glad you're okay." Kenji closed his eyes and smiled.

"Wow, really? I thought you hated me." Karina smirked.

"You know I would never hate you, a break up is nothing that should ever ruin our friendship right?" He beamed at her.

"Totally." Karina replied.

"Hey, you didn't do anything to Karina _did you_?" Kyo faced Yuki with a suspicious glance.

"Stupid cat, are you trying to sound perverted?" Yuki whacked him on the head.

"HEY!! I didn't mean it like that!!"

_2 hours later…._

"So do you guys wanna catch the flight at 3pm tomorrow?" Yuki asked as he read through the flight times.

"Yea sure, whatever, as long as we get out of this place." Kyo stuffed a grape in his mouth.

"Oh Karina, what happened to your leg?" Tohru asked.

"Oh yea about that, we bumped into Amaya, and I tried to kill her, but she had a gun…so, we were gonna die, but Akito came to the rescue…and now I'm assuming that he will be facing penalties for attempted murder and other stuff." Karina explained as Tohru and the others had their mouths opened, surprised that she said it so casually.

"By the way Kyo, I tried the kick you taught me, on Amaya. But it didn't work…I mean, it was going to work, but she's a black belt…so…yea…I gotta go back to martial arts lessons as soon as we're back in Japan." Karina looked at Kyo.

"Ok."

"So you spent a night in a cave? Did you…get claustrophobic?" Kenji asked.

"Nah, it was alright. I would pick cave over lift any day."

* * *

The next day, they caught the afternoon flight back to Japan. Although, everyone was extremely exhausted. Yuki was already asleep, Karina hadn't told Kenji about her relationship with Yuki just yet, although he kind of, already knew. But Kenji was happily flicking through the arcade section…as usual. Karina was staring out of the window seat, Kyo was complaining to the air hostess about the limited amount of movie choices and Tohru was reading a magazine. Akito was penalized with over $8000 US dollars, and Amaya had a 30 year sentence in jail.

They were lucky enough to sit in business class, a treat from Akito. And all they could think of right now was not what was going to happen when they got back, but _home sweet home…_

* * *

AN: Reminding you people that again, this is NOT the last chapter. This part of the story was just a big event. But when they get back to Japan, they've still got some things to do, and yea. Sorry if this chapter wasn't that long but I ran out of ideas…you know? That mind-blank thing..

But Thank you for reading, and reviews are ALWAYS welcome!

Angelite Phoenix


	16. Chapter 16: Rebellious

A/N: I know, I updated slow…I'm like having major mind-blanks recently and it's so annoying!! Also I didn't really have time to update. Well.. . here are your replies.

**Fanfiction:**

Moonflower: Hehe, Thanks moonflower!

Daelaeyni: Thank you very much!!

Mischievouz Angel: And now I have another writers block, wow ain't that surprising….hmm, thanks for reviewing Kimmy-chan

Mysticwaterfall: Thank you bows fellow FF author.

Kyo4Tohru: Yea, hehe, about Japan, please excuse this chapter if it's a little bit boring…Thx for da review.

**Mediaminer:**

Silver-wolf: Once again thank you for every single kind review and smiley face you've given me!

* * *

**Chapter 16: Rebellious**

The rest of the Sohma household had encountered upon Akito's…"story" about Europe. They were informed that Akito did indeed, plan to kill everyone who were going on the trip by using his assassin Amaya Natsume. That did bring a lot of shame and disappointment upon the whole main house members. But they couldn't exactly say anything because, Akito was still around, and he was still the head of the Sohma Family, bossy, cold but just, slightly different. More calm and contented, smiled a little more than usual and greeted everyone with respect which was considered as a big dramatic change to everyone. He no longer had any grudges against Tohru, Kyo, Yuki and co because he knew his mistake had caused such a great tragedy that had killed some innocent skiers in Switzerland (avalanche).

It was very fortunate that he didn't end up in jail like Amaya did, but it was a close call. Hatori had checked up on everyone's injuries and school had started for all the teenagers in Kaibara High. It was another new term, and the weather had changed as well. But everyone else lived their everyday daily lives.

* * *

The hot air and the bright sunshine lit up Tokyo as the Momiji leaves rustled in the calm wind. Karina stood inside the dojo trying to aim kicks at Kyo as he dodged and blocked them.

"Not bad, you're getting better." Kyo said.

"Thanks." Karina aimed for another one but actually hit Kyo this time accidentally, unaware that he was not paying attention or in other words, distracted by something.

"Shoot, I'm sorry!" Karina went over and helped her brother as he got up. Then she realised what he was looking at, Tohru was at the doorway in a beautiful dress.

'haha, now I get it, heh, typical of Kyo to stare at Tohru.' Karina laughed inside her head and gave Tohru a friendly wave.

"T-T-Tohru?" Kyo stuttered, blushed and turned away.

Her dress was a light peachy pink colour that blended in with her skin tone. She even had her hair done up in a different style, spirals around the long fringe and at the end of her ponytail.

"Sorry to interrupt…"

"No problem,_ Kyo_ and I think you look great, what's the occasion?" Karina emphasized on Kyo and relaxed.

"Well…umm, we have a school dance coming up 2 weeks from now, and well…Yuki's brother Ayame found this dress for me, and I think I will wear it to the dance. I was just…well coming here to ask of your opinion and if you would like to have one too Karina? Because Ayame specializes in these things, and well, if you're going to the dance, then maybe you'd like to get a dress." Tohru explained before Kyo could comment on Karina speaking on his behalf.

"Oh wow, I'd love to! And that dress really suits you, I mean, if Yuki's brother can find a dress that suits you, he'd be able to do that for me…right? So yea, sure, why not, I'll come along, perhaps this weekend because we got a few sport practices this week." Karina replied happily.

"Yes that would be great! Umm, did you sign up for sport this semester?" Tohru asked.

"Yea I definitely did. Umm…soccer, ice-skating, maybe skiing, badminton, swimming, athletics like the sprinting races and the high jump, yes that's it for this term." Karina listed her sports.

"Sounds like a busy term." Kyo commented after staring at Tohru.

"Yea, but it's better than nothing."

"Oh well, I might as well leave now, I have to tell Ayame-san that I love this dress. I'll see you at school on Wednesday." Tohru smiled. (Today's Tuesday)

"Alright, Bye." Karina and Kyo said in unison.

"You can't wait till the dance can you? You should so majorly ask her out!!!!" Karina screamed with joy after Tohru left.

"Uhh…WHAT??? Why?"

"She's your girlfriend, stupid….. You got to be nice!"

"FINE!" Kyo got back to the practice.

* * *

"So Yuki, my dear brother, when are you going to introduce your new girlfriend to me?" Ayame walked around his shop searching for something for Yuki to wear to the dance.

"Shut up, she'll come in the weekend to get a dress for the dance, be patient." Yuki snapped.

"Ooooohhh, so she is going with you, right?" Ayame asked.

"Uhh….I haven't asked her…but yes, I think so." Yuki replied.

"Oh well that's perfect!! I am so jealous of you Yuki!!" Ayame pouted.

Before Yuki could reply, Tohru came running into the store with a big smile on her face.

"Ayame-san, I am so happy, I love this dress. Thank you so much!!" She twirled around.

"Well you're very welcome Tohru, take it to the dance and make Kyo stare." Ayame laughed as Tohru blushed madly.

* * *

_The next day..._

Kenji walked around the hallways of his new school. He had signed up for the same sports as Karina except ice-skating, and he had also been through the short interview with the principle a few hours ago.

_**Flashback…. **_

"Hmm….I see you have good potential in sporting activities. And that you have had a large variety of experience in your previous school…..You've won a few medals, and you have been captain of the sports team for a few years. Not bad, not bad at all. You must be pleased with yourself."

"_Yea…I guess so."_

"_This is a great record, it reminds me of someone thought, oh yes, how could I forget. You are merely the boy version of Karina…ermmm….Yoshida was it? Oh, are you two related."_

"_My…mum is her guardian."_

"_Oh I see. Right, I think she's…changed her surname to…uhh Horikawa now…currently. Oh interesting. Anyway, yes, you are definitely accepted into Kaibara High. I'm sure you'll be elected as school sports captain very soon. So are there any other things that interest you apart from being passionate about sport?"_

"_Well…I've always been into art, for fun. It's not that I'm superb at it or anything, just something that relaxes me whenever I'm stressed. Although my academic results…are…just average I guess."_

"_It's okay, you'll be settling in just fine with the sports group. I hope you enjoy this school."_

"_Thank you…Principal."_

"_You are very welcome, you may start attending lessons tomorrow. Until then, you might want to buy some stationary or sign up for the sports contracts."_

"_Yes, I will. Bye."_

"_Goodbye Mr Kenji Yoshida."_

_**End of Flashback…**_

He had made a few new friends but still one thing worried him. Would life still be the same after what happened during the 'holiday' in Europe. Even though he had told Karina that he no longer had any doubts about Yuki and stuff, he needed to get use to the new routines. Only two things stayed the same, his love and talent for sports and the fact that girls still crowded around him, even in his new school on his first day, he was already popular, of course not as popular as Yuki whom he had discovered, had his own all-girl fan club.

He entered his classroom to find both Yuki and Kyo surrounded by a group of girls. Then two seconds later, he too, was trapped inside a circle of screaming teenage girls. He wondered what the occasion was, and he stood there like an idiot, unsure of how to respond. Then soon he realised, on the wall, it said in big letters.

"SCHOOL DANCE, 7pm in 2 weeks time!!! Held in the Kaibara High school Gymnasium!"

He found out that the girls were asking him to be their date for the dance, problem was, he didn't even know one person from the group. He looked over his shoulder at Yuki and Kyo. Yuki was putting on a fake smile while slowly sliding away, and Kyo looked really annoyed. Kenji decided that he wouldn't have the nerve to snap at people he didn't know, so he tried Yuki's method and quickly ran out the door when he bumped into Karina.

"Oww…my head!" She exclaimed, then saw Kenji's guilty expression and smiled.

"Kenji, it's your first day right? How's it going…… uhh never mind, let's go!" She smiled, when she saw the screaming girls chasing after him, she grabbed his hand and ran off.

"This…is…only….your…first…..day…..and you're already this….popular…" Karina sighed.

"Yea….I know, it's kind of…weird." Kenji replied solemnly.

"So other than that, do you like this school? Do you need any help?"

"Nah I'm alright, this school is great I guess."

"Ok….uhh…, if you have any problems, just ask me….umm…..so I'll see you after school for soccer practice."

"Sure, thanks, see you."

* * *

It was a warm sunny afternoon, they had attended soccer practice, Karina had gone to a coffee shop where she caught up with her biological mother Nara and Kenji went home. Kenji's mother, Risa, had only recently found out about their break-up, she had even prepared a 'cake' as a welcome back gift for the…ex-pair but quickly took off Karina's name when she heard the news, and only left the word Welcome, and Kenji on it.

Kyo, Yuki and Tohru went back to Shigure's house where they had a nice home-cooked meal. Although, Shigure kept teasing Kyo about him seeing Tohru in a pretty pink dress.

It was quite amusing, but everyone was glad to be back home.

* * *

Kyo knocked on Tohru's bedroom door, hoping she wouldn't be asleep. He was feeling confident, so he decided to have a go at asking her to go to the dance with him as his partner. Although, he did feel slightly nervous because he knew he'd go pink the moment she appeared.

"Kyo." Tohru smiled and opened the door.

"Hey uhh Tohru…"

"Oh umm, I almost forgot to ask you something Kyo, well…I was wondering if you'd…perhaps like to go to the dance with me?" Tohru stuttered as Kyo felt butterflies in his stomach. She had read his mind and had made the job easier.

"Y-yea…sure." Kyo nodded eagerly.

"Thank you, umm…what were you going to say? I'm sorry, I interrupted."

"Nah, its fine…I was gonna ask you the same thing anyway. Goodnight Tohru." Kyo planted a gentle kiss on her cheek and walked back to his bedroom.

* * *

Karina lay on her bed, ready to turn off her light and snooze when she reflected upon today's memories.

_**Flashback….**_

"_Karina, I would like to ask you a question." Nara looked down and stammered a bit._

"_Sure Nara, go ahead."_

"_Could…you call me mom?"_

"_Yea…uhh ok Mom." Karina bit her lip._

"_Sorry, that wasn't the question. What I was going to ask was….I want to …start a new life with my daughter. And…I was wondering if you'd like to move…with me…out of Tokyo so we can begin on a fresh start as a family. I'm thinking that it'd be a great way for us to spend time together. And…if it works out, then…I would like to get custody of you, so we can actually live together. You don't have to stay on your own anymore, or with your guardians. What do you think?" Nara asked. _

_**End of Flashback….**_

It was a long question, but it meant so much to Karina, and yet it was hard. She couldn't answer the question. She didn't want to leave the people that she loved. She loved her guardian Risa, Kenji, her half-brother Kyo and of course, her boyfriend Yuki. But she also wanted to be with her real mother, she always wanted a perfect family since her life was so muddled up.

Nara still had to meet her guardians and her step-son Kyo which would've been awkward as Karina…was the result of an affair that was merely loveless at a point and…it included betrayal and lies….heaps of lies that hurt both sides, Kyo's mother, and Karina's mother. And it was all their father's fault. But of course, that was then…and they couldn't really do anything about it now. It would be stupid to complain about how they were living, since Karina was constantly surrounded by people that loved her and took care of her like a good family or sibling.

* * *

_Thursday…..Badminton practice. _

"My names Kenji Yoshida, I'm a new student here, but I applied for team captain and head of sports. Alright, so we begin competitions next season, I'm hoping that we can all get along well, and train hard as we will be competing against all the other schools in Tokyo. This will be our first official badminton practice, so be prepared for the end of term matches." Kenji explained.

"Umm…yea and I'm Karina…uhh…well just Karina, and I'm also the team captain…well the girl version….umm… ok, so today we will begin with serving the shuttlecock over the net at the right height and to the correct place." Karina finished off as everyone got to work obediently and started practising right away.

"Still unsure of which surname to use?" Kenji asked.

"Yea well we have Sohma, Yoshida, Horikawa, Hiroshi….I just don't know, I mean if I use Sohma, they'd think I'm like…Yuki's sister of something which would be…so wrong…..cos…I'm his…girlfriend…..and uhh, Yoshida, I would be your sister…which would also be wrong, and Horikawa, I've only known my true mother for…less than a month…so Hiroshi would be good if Nagisa didn't die."

"The principle said that you changed it to Horikawa." Kenji pointed out.

"He did? I didn't hear anything about that."

"Oh well, I think you should be my sister. I mean if we're not dating anymore, at least I can have the same relationship as you and Kyo do, right?"

"But I like having you as a best…friend…boy……oh man, ok who cares, I'll stick with Yoshida cos I seriously doubt the other surnames." Karina sighed.

"Well anyway, let's practise, shall we?" Kenji passed her a racquet.

"Sure, why not."

* * *

"Tohru!" Kyo called out to her as she turned around and smiled.

"Yes Kyo?"

"Karina and Kenji are hosting a badminton practice and that damn Yuki is off at his school council meeting, so…I just wanted to know if you wanted to do something during lunch?"

"Yes of course, I'd love to. What do you have in mind?"

"I dunno….I was asking you if you had any suggestions." Kyo shrugged and looked away.

"Umm…we could get some instant ramen from the corner shop."

"Sounds good to me, I'm starved."

_15 minutes later, back at Kaibara High school gardens…._

"Umm Kyo?"

"Yea?"

"How's the ramen?"

"Good, tasty…better than cafeteria food."

"I was just thinking….about Kagura."

"Uhh…what about that Kagura?"

"Is…she going to hate me?"

"Oh no…you're saying…about….us…." Kyo paused.

"Yes…she loves you Kyo…but….so…do I…and…"

"I can't do anything about it, I've already made my decision, I'm not gonna spend the rest of my life looking at Kagura, she annoys me!" Kyo stated, hinting that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with…Tohru.

"Oh…so…"

"So in other words, she can't hate you, because if she does, I'll get the message clear to her head that…we don't have any chemistry."

"But…wouldn't that hurt her feelings?" Tohru looked down.

"Yea I know, but she'll have to deal with the truth someday."

"Oh…ok…"

"Now eat your ramen before it gets cold!"

* * *

_Saturday….Ayame's dress shop_

"Hey, umm, can I get a black dress perhaps?" Karina looked around the shop, not used to the fact that it was so colourful and that she'd never worn such long dresses.

"Oh you like Black?" Ayame asked.

"Umm…I guess."

"How about this dark-blue, it will match the colour of the night-sky." Ayame held up a beautiful slim dark blue gown that sparkled.

"Ok, I'll try it."

Two minutes later, Mine had helped Karina with the dress and she came out smiling and twirling around like a laughing idiot, well in her opinion anyway.

"I look so different, but I like it so much." Karina looked into the mirror and smiled at Ayame.

"Yes, it goes well with your hair colour." Ayame commented as Karina looked alarmed. Yet another person commented about her hair colour.

"Is my hair colour that pretty?" Karina asked.

"Well it's quite unique, it's a nice shade and it's very silky." Mine grinned.

"Oh well….thanks, so about the dress. I might as well take this one." Karina took one last glance and nodded towards Ayame.

"Perfect! I will let you pick it up on the night of the dance then. Oh and one more thing…Has my dear brother Yuki asked you to go with him yet?" Ayame questioned sweetly.

Karina stopped and blushed.

"Uhh….no, he hasn't. Actually I haven't spoken to him a lot since we came back from that trip. So much to catch up with. Sport, education, family matters, martial arts training, and this dress selecting thing. I haven't really had the chance to have a proper conversation. And I know he's busy as well."

"Oh I see. Don't worry my dear, I will order Yuki to ask you out the minute I see him." Ayame held his head up high and spoke as if he were the president.

"Nah, don't worry about it. I'll ask him myself. I mean there's nothing wrong with a girl asking a boy right?" Karina shrugged it off.

"Good, I'm glad to hear that. Be confident Karina, go for it. Tell my brother Yuki that I gave you a nice boost of confidence."

'Uhh actually you didn't do anything but choose a dress for me.' Karina wanted to say, but stopped her mouth from speaking.

"Ok well um…thank you for your help and I'll see you later."

* * *

_Another week passed, Yuki attended his usual council meetings, Tohru studied hard for upcoming exams and found new recipes to cook for dinner, Kyo practiced hard with his sister Karina at the dojo as she also went to her sports games with Kenji after school. Tokyo was once again busy as ever, people roaming the streets either on their way to work or school. But it was great to have everything back to normal._

* * *

A/N: Yes, you can all growl at me for taking so long at writing this chapter….sigh

And Yup Girls ROCK!! Tohru asked Kyo to the dance, and now…well Karina's gonna do the same with Yuki.

And I guess you could say thing are brightening up for everyone back home in Tokyo. I think I'm just gonna stick to the average teenage life, but still not sure how to end the story…gulp

Oh well…..Reviews please! If you have time.

Thanks for reading.

Angelite Phoenix/ Dark Angel of Mystery


	17. Chapter 17: Glamorous

A/N: Oh yes, the title does indeed say it all…..the dance…and some fluff….hehe…. Oh yea and this chapter is dedicated to…

drumroll

moonflower! cheers

**Fanfiction:  
**Daelaeyni: Okay, I'll read it as soon as you publish the new chapter. Thanks for the review!

Mischievouz Angel: Tn.Q. As always Kimi-chan.

moonflower: -Hugs- Thank you! For every review!!

Kyo4Tohru: -Grins- Yup gotta love the high school dances. Lol.  
**  
Mediaminer:  
**Silver-wolf: Haha cool, trademark smiley faces. Thx for reviewing!

Anna May Dreamer: Thank you so much. I hope the answers are in this chapter. Oh and unfortunately…they can't slow dance…or dance too close. –sob-

**Chapter 17: Glamorous**

_It was the week of the Kaibara High School Dance, it was only Monday and they had till Saturday Evening to prepare. Of course Tohru and Karina had already chosen their dress but Karina had yet to ask Yuki to go with her. A girl had asked Kenji to the dance and he had agreed even though he had no hard feelings for her. Nara Horikawa still waited for a reply from Karina about moving away from Tokyo and Kyo completely forgot about the dance._

"So do you have a student council meeting after school today?" Karina asked Yuki as they got their books out of their lockers.

"No I don't. Do you have sports practice?"

"It's cancelled today due to the weather." She sighed.

"Yuki Sohma?" He turned around as he saw Motoko Minagawa standing there smiling.

"Yes Miss Minagawa?"

"I…just wanted to know…if you'd like to….perhaps…maybe go to the dance with me….this Saturday." She asked politely as Karina was irritated in the background.

"Uhh…"

"He's going with ME, I was just going to ask him anyway till you interrupted." Karina replied rudely as she slammed her locker and glared at Motoko.

"Is that right Yuki?" Motoko asked, slightly disappointed.

"….Yes….It's true; I'm sorry….but I'm going with my girlfriend Karina." He looked up and gave an apologetic smile to Motoko.

"Oh ok, it's alright." She ran off as Karina shook her head.

"Karina…you know I would always want to go with you, so you didn't have to be so stern with Motoko." Yuki pointed out.

"Is it my fault that she has a major crush on you and I get really annoyed when I see her trying to score a point with my boyfriend?" Karina felt a bit hot-tempered.

"You know I can see the resemblance between Kyo and you now." Yuki laughed.

"What? The anger management problems?? Is that meant to be a compliment or an insult?"

"Haha, don't worry, I like you the way you are." Yuki kissed her lightly as she felt butterflies in her stomach.

"So you're going to the dance with me right? Cos I mean come on, I even went to your brother's shop and I ordered a dress that you _might _like." She said sarcastically.

"Heh, of course."

"Good. So…how do you feel about me moving to Kyoto or something?" Karina said fast as Yuki dropped his books and froze then looked at Karina like she was mad.

"What did you say?" He listened as she met his amethyst sparkling eyes and gave a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, I'm going to tell my mom this afternoon that I don't wanna move."

"Huh?"

"My mom wanted to move out of this place to start a new fresh life, and you know, take custody of me but I have to refuse because…I have all my friends here and…Kyo and you….ya know?"

"But….I'm so confused Karina…"

"I'm just asking you….how would _you_ feel if I moved?" Karina helped pick up his books.

"I don't know…because…we just started a relationship and…well…I would hate it…because….we haven't really spent that much time together."

"True."

"Please tell me you're not moving?" Yuki kept walking down the hallway as they sat down at their desks.

"I promise, I won't leave you Yuki, I won't leave anyone…okay, I'll just tell my mom that…I wanna stay here."

"Okay." Yuki forced a weak smile as the teacher started the class.

* * *

When Karina reached home, she grabbed the phone and dialled Nara's number. Recently Nara had gotten herself a job as secretary in an office business building.

"Mom?" Karina still felt awkward saying that word.

"Karina honey, everything alright?"

"I…About last time how you asked me if I wanted to move, the answer is….no…." Karina replied solemnly as Nara's face fell.

"Oh…I see…."

"It's just that, all my friends are here, and my…uhh….boyfriend….and my half-brother whom I am very close to nowadays, I just don't wanna leave this happy….environment ya know? I'm sorry mom if you really wanted to move but I just don't feel comfortable with the idea of departing Tokyo."

"Ok honey, I understand…"

"Umm….also….another thing."

"What?" Nara sighed.

"I…I wanna keep my surname as…Yoshida….if that's okay?" Karina felt so bad, like she was being cruel to her mom or something.

"Oh…really? Okay…I uhh…."

"Mom listen, I'm sorry if I'm making you feel…I dunno….rejected by your own daughter or anything. I just need time to get use to having you around. You can move into my apartment and we can become a family, but I just need a few moments to fix everything up."

"No it's fine. You take your time."

"Okay…well I'm sorry mom…I gotta go now."

"Yea sure honey, see you around."

………….

"DAMN IT…..DAMN RAT PUT LEEKS INTO MY SOUP!!!!!" Kyo's voice made everyone in the room jump as they sat quietly eating their dinner.

"Stupid cat, why'd you assume it was me."

"WELL WHO ELSE IS THERE!!!! THAT PERVERT DOESN'T EVEN THINK OF ANYTHING BUT PERVERTED THINGS AND TOHRU WOULDN'T DO THAT TO ME!!!" Kyo spat out the leeks.

"Oh uhh Kyo…" Tohru raised her hand.

"WHAT?"

"I forgot." She sweat dropped.

"YOU FORGOT WHAT?"

"Forgot to give you the soup with no leeks…" Tohru looked guilty.

"Oh…" Kyo calmed down and felt stupid for getting angry at the wrong person.

"Well here I'll get you another bowl." Tohru ran off to the kitchen and returned with a leek-free bowl of soup.

"Uhh thanks Tohru…" Kyo felt a silence coming on as Shigure and Yuki looked at him.

"STOP STARING AT ME!!" Kyo stood up, but bumped the table causing his 'new' bowl of soup to spill on the floor.

"Stupid Cat." Yuki murmured as Shigure resisted the urge to laugh.

"Uhh…I'll clean that up." Tohru got up when Kyo stopped her.

"No don't, I'll do it, And don't worry about getting me another bowl of soup, I'll just spill it again or something." Kyo felt really embarrassed and extremely dumb.

He was having a really bad day and plus, he still hadn't bothered to go to Ayame's shop to select a tuxedo to wear to the dance. He was really procrastinating and that leek soup thing was mocking him.

When Yuki and Shigure had left the table, Tohru approached Kyo and attempted to help him with the mess on the carpet.

"Tohru, you don't have to.."

"Well I want to, once we get this mess cleaned up, I'd like to show you something."

"Oh…fine then."

Tohru took Kyo to her room and on her bed was a black and white tuxedo with little tints of green. She held it up and smiled.

"I thought that you were too busy with martial arts this week, so I decided to choose something for you at Ayame's store. I hope you like it." She handed it to him as he blushed.

He went into the bathroom and tried it on, it fitted him perfectly and the colour actually suited him. He went outside and thanked Tohru.

"You really do suit it Kyo, will you wear it to the dance?"

"Yea…sure, saves me from going to Ayame's place anyway."

"Ok, well I'll see you tomorrow then, goodnight Kyo." Tohru stepped forward and kissed him softly as he blushed like a radish.

"Night Tohru."

* * *

_Night of the Dance…  
_

The School Gymnasium was decorated with disco lights of every colour and the music was loud and clear. Kyo and Tohru arrived first and Tohru was happily chatting to Hana and Uo. Hana as usual, was wearing black and Uo went with a slim purple dress that didn't puff out.

Karina and Yuki arrived shortly after, Karina was still not used to the high heels and Yuki felt his collar getting a bit tight but apart from that, everything went perfectly well. They had all managed to dance properly and Kyo didn't do half as bad as he did back in Spain.

'Come on…don't trip, don't trip, if I trip, I'll fall onto Tohru, then the damn curse will turn me into cat…argh…this is so annoying…' Kyo thought as they danced to the music. He was also nervous since they couldn't dance like proper people. They had to stand at least less than a metre apart.

"Relax Kyo, you're doing just fine." Tohru said to him as if reading his mind.

"Uhh thanks."

"You're Welcome." She smiled a heart-melting one.

"T-tohru, are you thirsty? I'll go get you some fruit punch." Kyo felt his cheeks burning, that he had to find a valid excuse to hide himself temporarily.

"Umm….ok…" Tohru let go and looked surprised.

Kyo came back with the punch, he was ready to hand it to Tohru when he tripped over some ones foot, and the whole glass of red coloured liquid spilt over Tohru's light dress. Tohru jumped back in shock and looked at Kyo who had fallen flat on his face. When he looked up, he just turned even redder at the mess he made on her new dress.

"Are you alright?"

"Your….dress…argh I'm sorry…Tohru." Kyo got up and apologised.

"No, it's fine. I'll go get it cleaned up but Kyo, your nose is bleeding."

"Huh? From a harmless fall like that, it's already bleeding?" Kyo felt so unlucky.

_Over at the juice bar_

"Tohru and orange-top look like their having fun." Uo said sarcastically.

"Yes, they do." Hana agreed as she saw both of them rushing to the bathroom.

"I'm bored."

"You're not the only one that's bored."

"So Hana, you should go find someone to dance with." Uo teased.

"I should say the same thing about you Uo." Hana replied.

"Fine, fine, I'll go dance with a random guy but at the end of the day, I wanna see you with a smile on your face."

"Deal."

* * *

Two hours passed and Karina started to get tired from all the dancing, she went outside with Yuki and just relaxed. They were going to go in for a short kiss when they were interrupted by a girl.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry but have you seen Kenji Yoshida anywhere?" She asked, as Karina recognised her as the girl who had asked Kenji out to the dance.

"No…I haven't." Karina answered.

"Oh…he was meant to come…I don't get it….He seemed like such a nice guy…."

"If you think he ditched you, he didn't okay? Kenji's a nice guy, he wouldn't do that. I'm sure there's a good reason why he's late." Karina pointed out.

She felt her cell phone vibrating and the caller ID said it was Kenji's mom Risa. Maybe she knew what was going on.

"Hey."

"Karina, where are you?"

"At the school dance…Where is Kenji? He was meant to co.."

"I need to you come to the hospital now! Kenji, he…he got hit by a car." Risa was panicking and Karina's insides froze with shock.

"Please Karina."

"I'll….I'll be right there." She shut her cell phone and looked at Yuki who was waiting for a response.

"Kenji got hit by a car, I have to go…I'm really sorry."

"No it's okay, you go ahead, I'll tell Kyo and Tohru." Yuki gave Karina a hug and watched as she sprinted towards a nearby taxi.

'So much for spending time with my girlfriend.' Yuki sighed and returned inside the gymnasium.

* * *

Karina entered the hospital ward and sat next to Risa who was dead worried. She held onto Kenji's hand as a tear rolled down her cheek. It was Kenji's first dance at Kaibara High and he didn't even get a chance to see any of it. Karina was still wearing her dark blue dress and it felt weird inside the hospital.

"How'd this happen?" Karina asked Risa.

"Stupid driver." Risa replied coldly.

"Is he okay?"

"The doctor said that he's gonna have to quit sports for at least 2 weeks in order for him to recover. But I'm still enraged, Kenji could've died. He is my only son and my husbands already dead, I don't see why this is happening to me."

"I know…it isn't fair is it? Kenji's been my best childhood friend since like…forever. I'm just glad he's going to be fine. I was so scared that something might happen to him…like…death or something." Karina cried.

"Yes…By the way, you look beautiful, I'm sure Kenji would've thought the same."

"Thanks."

"Besides…I thought you were a good couple…what happened?" Risa changed the subject to something Karina really wanted to avoid.

"It…just fell apart."

"So you don't know what happened?"

"I fell in love with someone else okay? Can we please not talk about this right now Risa."

"Ok…I'm sorry, I just thought Kenji had really changed since he came back from the trip. He's been less cheerful, quiet and he doesn't really talk to me as much as he use to. I'm just…not sure if this has something to do with…you…?"

"If it does have something to do with me then…what do you want me to do anyway?"

"I don't know…I just want him to be happy…that's all."

"Risa, he'll find another person in his life that will help heal him…he'll be alright, I promise. Besides all these girls are crowding around him at school already."

"Karina, that's not the point. You're special to him."

Before Karina could argue back, Kenji flinched, they instantly stopped their conversation and paid attention to Kenji who was really weak.

"Mom,….KS?."

"Yea KY I'm right here." Karina smiled.

"I'm thirsty." He complained as Risa chuckled and poured him a glass of water.

"You look pretty KS, you should be at the dance with Yuki right now, sorry I dragged you here."

"KY-…Kenji, it doesn't matter right now. I'd rather be here and make sure that you're okay. It's alright, it's not your fault at all, so just relax okay?" Karina rolled her eyes and grinned.

Two seconds later, Yuki burst into the hospital room along with Kyo and Tohru behind him.

"Hey guys." Karina greeted them.

"Who are they?" Risa stood up and got suspicious.

"Well, this is Yuki….my…umm….boyfriend….uhh, Kyo, my half-brother and Tohru, my future sister-in-law." Karina stuttered on Yuki but made a joke out of Tohru and Kyo.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Kyo coughed while Tohru laughed and started to blush.

"Oh…boyfriend huh?" Risa ignored the other two and focused on Yuki.

"Mom….quit it, I'm okay, me and KS are over, their a couple now. Leave them alone." Kenji groaned as he sat up.

"Sorry." Risa apologized and returned to her son's side.

"So…damn drunk driver huh?" Kyo questioned.

* * *

_Back at the dance._

"Congrats Hana, you made it through." Neither of them noticed Tohru's absence.

"Uo, don't ever ask me to do that dare again." Hana panted.

"Hmm…lemme guess, that guy asked you out?"

"Correct…and I don't even like his waves."

"What'd you say?"

"Simple answer. No thank you."

"Aw man Hana you're no fun, you should've said yes, now he's only gonna receive a heartbreak." Uo pouted.

"In his dreams." Hana laughed.

"And you Uo, did pretty well." Hana commented.

"Yes…I did."

"Did he ask you out?"

"No."

"Sad.."

"I asked him out." Uo said confidently.

"Oh… that's interesting. By the way, where's Tohru and that orange boy?" Hana looked around the dance floor and found no one with orange hair.

"Dunno."

"Should we go look for them?"

"Nah, I'll text her."

* * *

"Hey Tohru?" Kyo sat on the rooftop with his one and only as they watched the sky.

"Yes Kyo?"

"I'm r-really s-s-sorry for everything…I mean, ruining your evening, by spilling the punch and getting a bleeding nose."

"Oh you don't have to apologise. I still think it was the best night ever Kyo. I got to spend a lot of time with you, so I feel very lucky."

"Oh geez…really?"

"Yes, I'm not lying. Apart from you tripping, and Kenji's accident. It couldn't have been better. So I should be thanking you for coming to the dance with me as my partner."

"Oh….no problem." Kyo blushed.

"Well I'm a bit tired, so I better get down and into bed. I'm going to make a big breakfast tomorrow." Tohru started to move when Kyo grabbed her hand instantly.

"Umm…?" Tohru looked at him.

"Don't worry about it, how about I make breakfast tomorrow for a change. But I only want to cook for you though. I'm going to force that damn rat and that pervert to eat alone outside or something."

"Oh…but you have to wake up early…"

"I don't mind Tohru, as long as I'm doing it for you." Kyo felt a sweet moment coming on as he kissed Tohru on the forehead.

"Thank you Kyo. I love you." Tohru smiled.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading though and I apologise if I'm reducing the lengths of the chapters every time….

Oh and also…a question…  
umm would you me to end the story in a happy or sad ending?

Angelite Phoenix/ Dark Angel of Mystery


	18. Chapter 18: Escape

A/N**: I AM EXTREMELY SORRY**….I've been busy with my birthday party and my friends and family's B'day parties! _And_ plus, I published a **_new_** fruits basket fic on New Years Eve which you can **take a look at** if you're **interested**. But aside from that, I hope you've all had a merry Christmas and a good new year. **Thank you** readers and reviewers for being so **patient!**

(Oh and I am thinking…that the curse will be lifted as an ending for this story. Just something I have in mind as a solution to their uhh…miseries.)

Anyway this chapters dedicated to….

**Daelaeyni  
**(hugs) Thank you so much for everything you've done for my fanfics!

**Fanfiction:  
**Daelaeyni- Thank you! And it's alright, I forgive you. Lol, if I got angry at you for not updating, I'd be a hypocrite since….I've been so slow recently as well…haha. And yea semi-sweet sounds pretty good, so thanks!

Mischievous angel- Haha Kimmi-chan, as always- you can't make up your mind, oh well, lol, thanks for reviewing!

Moonflower- Thank you and you're welcome! And sure, I'm considering the happy ending thing…well more on the happy side than the side XD

Kyo4tohru- Yup, I'll try my best.

4EVAFURUBA- Thanks, that's good to hear (sighs with relief)

**Mediaminer:**

Silverwolf- Okay, hmm, how should I say this? Well in the first story Destiny Unmasked, in chapter 5 and 6, they discovered that for some reason Yuki/Kyo wouldn't transform when Karina hugged them. Something to do with how Kyo's her half-brother and because of the whole genetics, blood thing, she's kinda immune to being affected by the curse.

KenzPotter- I really want to apologise, but I'm probably going to finish with a…uhh sort of happy ending, kinda, and sorry if the chapter is rushed, but thanks so much for taking the time to read my story. Hope you don't mind.

**Chapter 18: Escape**

2 weeks of carefree hours had gone past. Tohru and Kyo were at home with Yuki as Shigure had gone to visit Ayame at his store.

Kyo sat down and turned the T.V on with a glass of milk thinking that he could relax, when something caught his eye on the news channel. He dropped his glass of milk as it spilt onto the mat.

"Kyo? Are you alright? I'll go get a cloth." Tohru noticed the spill.

"Tohru, take a look at this!" Kyo called her over from the kitchen as she came over with a pale look on her face.

"But Kyo, that can't be true?" Tohru gasped.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ok…so add half a cup of sugar and 100 grams of butter…"

Karina was in the middle of baking a cake for Yuki, as she had borrowed some recipes from Tohru to hopefully improve her baking skills, when the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Karina?"

"Kenji, is that you, have you come out of the hospital yet?" Karina asked.

"Yea, I uhh…left yesterday and I forgot that I have to deliver you something if that's alright."

"Oh, really…well sure then."

"So I'll come over to your house in about 10 minutes?" Kenji asked.

"Sure, I'll see ya then." Karina placed the phone down.

Karina smiled, her relationship with Kenji was still going strong, and they were still extremely good friends and sport pals. They basically still did everything together and he was starting to lighten up again. For that, she felt happy, happy that Kenji was still able to live through all that, right after the trip, the break-up and the car accident, he was able to hold on.

She was lost in her thoughts for a few minutes when she remembered the cake.

"Oh god, it better not be burnt!!"

She ran to the oven and took out the cake, amazed that it had actually turned out okay, she laughed. But she couldn't help but feel a slight coldness in her apartment. As if there was bad aura around. She started to get suspicious, when she turned around and faced none other than Amaya Natsume….the evil assassin, but what was she doing here, she was meant to be in a 30 year sentence in it be that she escaped somehow.

"Hmm….quite tasty, but a little too sugary." Amaya tried the cake.

"What the hell are you doing here!?" Karina asked.

"Oh, well I just thought I'd pay you a visit, ya know? Kill you all for what you did to me, and kill _you_ first."

"M-M-Me?"

"Well you live alone, so it might as well make the job easier."

"How'd you get in anyway?" Karina tried to ask a lot of questions.

"Hey I'm a first class assassin, what do you expect? Of course I know how to open locks." Amaya laughed evilly.

"How'd you escape from jail?"

"Ha, as if I'd tell you." Amaya glared.

"So that means you're also planning to go after Akito right?"

"That bastard? Duh!"

"But you don't know where the others live…"

"Shut up, stop questioning me!!! Once I'll kill you, I'll go after Kenji, then the threesome and then finally, I'll get my revenge on that damn Akito."

"You wouldn't." Karina looked around for objects to defend herself.

"Oh yes I would, as I said to Akito himself, you have no idea what I am capable of." Amaya's eyes turned red as she charged towards Karina at full speed trying to kick and punch her as Karina tried her best to dodge the attacks, unaware that Amaya was also carrying a knife for back-up reasons.

Karina was aiming to run out the door when she crashed into Kenji who was carrying a load of what looked like sport trophies that came tumbling down.

"KENJI!!!" Karina grabbed his sleeve, got up and started to panic.

"KS, what's wrong?"

"WE –WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE." She cried desperately as she dragged him to the lift even though she preferred the stairs.

"Karina, come on, talk to me." Kenji was confused.

"Kenji….I'm gonna die….I'm gonna die." Karina whispered as Kenji started to worry.

"Damn, shut up, don't say these things… Y-you're not making any sense?"

"A-amaya Natsume….she escaped….from jail…..she's in-in my apartment….she wants to kill us all….one by one…."

"Shit, you're kidding aren't you?"

"No…because…I'm first."

"Ok…now you're starting to scare me…" Kenji got out of the lift and pulled her outside and into his car.

"Kenji….don't you get it? Amaya, she's on the loose, she's making her way downstairs now…and because I live alone, she's going to kill me first, then you, then the others…then Akito. She's mad….that woman…"

"That bitch." Kenji was about to start the car, when he heard a thud and the sound of the windows of the car shattering. Karina looked up and Kenji turned around to face the murderous Amaya who had plunged her knife through the window and into the drivers seat.

She noticed that she'd missed, "Damn, that Kenji boy had reacted really fast" she thought as she grabbed his throat and attempted to choke him.

"NO, KENJI!!!" Karina yelled as she reached over and pressed the accelerator as well as trying to control the psycho wheel.

"SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!!!!! Why won't this thing go any faster?" Karina had started to loose her temper and her patience as swear words came tumbling out of her mouth.

"It's…. alright Karina, I've got it." Kenji coughed and sat up, a little relieved that he didn't get stabbed or strangled.

"Fine, are you okay Kenji?"

"Yea, don't worry about me." Kenji replied as he took the steering wheel.

'Why is this happening? How did that bitch manage to escape from jail, this is so frickin annoying, not to mention I nearly got stabbed and strangled by that bitch.' Kenji thought as he drove to nowhere.

"You gonna call the police?" He asked her.

"Ya, I'm doing that right now." She answered as she dialled the emergency number.

After the call, Karina started to worry.

"Kenji…if she's on the loose then weren't we meant to keep a close eye on her so she wouldn't escape again to murder Yuki…or Akito?"

"Karina, what do you expect us to do? I was nearly killed, you were nearly killed. All we could do was run away from any more damage."

"Yea…I'm sorry, I'm just…worried about Yuki…" Karina looked down.

"Hey Kyo and Yuki both know martial arts pretty well, I'm sure they'll be fine." Kenji patted her on the shoulder to give her as much comfort as he could.

"So you think she's heading there right now?"

"Most likely…"

"So go over there, we need to help them capture Amaya before anyone gets hurt."

"Oh….Ok." Kenji turned the car around and headed for Shigure's house.

"By the way, all those sport trophies back there…why'd you bring them?"

"Have you forgotten KS? I was meant to keep them for a year, and then you keep it for the next. Since we have to share these trophies. I mean, you need some things in your house to show that you're a natural champion. Maybe it's because of the missing trophies that Yuki didn't realise that you were into sports."

"Oh…right, I guess that's true."

"So uhh, when you get back…when we get Amaya back into jail and you get back home…you can keep them for as long as you like, okay?"

"Yea…thanks."

"No problem."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"She must be at Karina's right now." Kyo stood up from the couch and pounded his fist against the wall in rage.

"I'm going, I need to make sure she's okay." Yuki had obviously seen the headlines as well as he went for the door.

"I'll come with you." Kyo and Tohru said in unison as Tohru went to open the door while Yuki grabbed his jacket.

Kyo was just about to hit the switch off for the TV when he heard a crash, there was glass all over the floor, and him and Yuki were both staring at the figure in front of them.

"TOHRU!" Kyo shouted as he ran to her aid. Amaya Natsume had surprised Tohru as soon as she opened the door, and had whacked her so hard that Tohru had crashed into a glass cabinet and had fallen to the floor along with the broken pieces of sharp glass.

There were now a few small cuts on her arm, but Kyo was already in full-panic mode. He helped her up and charged towards Amaya while Yuki and Tohru tried to stop him.

"Stop!!, she's got a…"

"Knife!! KYO watch out!" Tohru screamed right after Yuki made a start to a warning.

Tohru closed her eyes and heard Kyo yell. But luckily Amaya had only scraped his arm, there was some blood and Tohru was getting dead scared. It was turn for Yuki to make his move. He sprinted behind Amaya and snatched the knife off her tight grip, while Kyo punched her in the face.

Then they heard the door slam open yet again as Karina and Kenji came dashing in with police cars behind them.

"Yuki! Kyo!" Karina was relieved to see them all safe.

"Stay back Karina." Yuki answered.

"Yea…Karina, the police are gonna handle this." Kenji tugged on her sleeve.

"But…but I wanna kick her ass." Karina whined.

"Shut up, you bitch!" Amaya's eyes stared at Karina as she tried to free herself from Yuki and Kyo's grip.

"FREEZE!" 3 policeman came into the room with guns in their hands, pointing at Amaya who's nose was bleeding.

They handcuffed Amaya and took her into the police car, one of the policeman checked up on everyone, making sure that Amaya hadn't done some serious damage.

"I'll tell ya what she did, she ruined my brand new car!" Kenji protested.

"The insurance will take care of that." The policeman answered.

"Hmph, still, make sure you extend her stay in jail." Kenji replied.

"That's up to the judges to decide, but if I were in charge, yes I would extend her sentence." The man smiled.

-------------------------------

"Tohru, are you alright?"

"I should be asking you that question Kyo, you have worse injuries than me, come on, I'll go get you're arm cleaned and bandaged." Tohru pulled him upstairs.

"You know, you're very brave Kyo…compared to me."

"Tohru, you were injured…you couldn't do anything."

"It was a mild injury and yet I sat there and watched you and Yuki suffer…I feel so bad."

"Tohru, don't feel bad, if you weren't there, than I would've been stabbed more seriously…maybe in the stomach or heart or…" Kyo paused when he saw Tohru's scared expression.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare ya…the point is, you don't have to blame yourself for everything…like Ritsu for example, you need to know that you did the best you could at that time, okay?"

"Okay." Tohru nodded.

"Good." Kyo stroked her hair and smiled at her.

-----------------------------------

"Karina, you're okay right? I'm sorry I wasn't there when she attacked your apartment." Yuki grabbed onto her hand and held it tightly.

"I'm fine, and it's not your fault, I'm just glad Kenji was over there to give me a ride to your house….and escape Amaya from practically murdering me. But what about you? You and my brother did a pretty good job on catching her." Karina answered.

"I didn't get hurt fortunately, and yea, Amaya's actually not as tough as she looks." Yuki joked.

"Haha…still I blame you for not letting me have a turn at kicking her ass, I have been training a lot with Kyo recently, I could've done something."

"Oh hehe I'm sorry, how about you forgive me if I take you out on a date?"

"Oh yea, we've never been on a proper date as a couple yet huh? Well then, I accept your apology." Karina laughed.

-------------------------------------

A/N: Yes…it's another short chapter, sorry for that!  
But yea, there's probably only going to be 2 chapters left of this story….or around 2 but I'd like to thank again, all the reviewers and readers who have took part in reading my story! 

Angelite Phoenix/ Dark Angel of Mystery


End file.
